


Cemented

by RedSneakers



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crimes & Criminals, Gen, Kate Lives, Kibbs, Kidnapping, Pre-Relationship, set somewhere around season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 11:17:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4177779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedSneakers/pseuds/RedSneakers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A child is missing and NCIS is kept in the dark until everything is almost too late. While Gibbs takes cases with children personally, this time his hands are tied behind stupid bureaucracy--and his team makes it really hard for him to keep it together, especially Kate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been sitting in my hard drive since 2012--all finished and almost all beta'ed (except for the last 4 chapters, you'll see the difference). 
> 
> I'm not going to say much, only the fact that to this day I am still personally offended that they killed off Kate's character. And I stopped watching after Ziva left, too. Yes, it personally offended me as well. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope someone in this place is still a Kibbs shipper and willing to read my story.

It was a usual Monday morning. Lindsey woke up early before everyone else in the house. She glanced at her alarm clock: 6:05. The blonde teenager yawned and got up. She had to prepare breakfast. Her brother Liam would wake up soon and she wouldn’t have time to get ready if she didn’t hurry.

Lindsey made her way to the kitchen. Liam had specifically asked for bacon and eggs the previous night and she intended to make him some – they had been eating cereal for breakfast and dinner for over a week now; bacon and eggs would be a nice change.

She had just finished frying the bacon when she heard her mother’s footsteps on the stairs. Soon she saw her mother in a shabby bathrobe and a pair of very fluffy pink slippers. The woman crossed the kitchen kissed the top of Lindsey’s head.

“You cooked real food! And made coffee! Thanks, honey!” Barbara praised her daughter. She thought about how lucky she was that Lindsey was such a great daughter. Their life hadn’t been easy since her husband was deployed to Iraq, and with her starting a new term at a night law school, she relied on Lindsey to take care of Liam at night.

“How was your class, Mom?” Lindsey asked, handing her mother a plateful of fried bacon and some scrambled eggs as she spoke. She sat down next to the older woman and began eating.

“Disastrous!” Barb admitted, “I don’t understand a thing. Tell me again why I enrolled in the first place?”

Lindsey rolled her eyes. “Because you want to make sure I’m home every night with Liam instead of wandering out on the streets?”

“Right!” they both laughed.

The teenager finished her breakfast, put her plate in the sink and went upstairs to get ready. It was past seven and she didn’t want to have to run to the bus stop. When she came back downstairs, her mother and Liam were still in the kitchen, talking animatedly about some cartoon he had watched yesterday.

She smiled at the scene before her. She knew that her father’s deployment had broken her mother’s heart and had made her brother sad. The first few weeks had been difficult, but it seemed that everyone was doing their best to cope with the situation. Her father had personally asked her to look after Liam and her mother – and whatever Daddy said, Lindsey obeyed.

Barb caught her daughter staring at them from the base of the stairs. “You’re ready,” she said, “You want me to drive you to school?”

Lindsey shook her head. “I told Sandy I’ll meet her on the bus today. I’ll see you after school, Mom.” She kissed her mother on the cheek and patted her brother on the head. “Don’t burn down the house, Li,” she teased.

“Love you, Linds,” Barb called after her but Lindsey had already closed the door behind her. She watched her daughter stroll away from their kitchen window, waving at her even though she knew that Lindsey never looked back. She waited until the last shiny strands of Lindsey’s hair had disappeared behind the tall trees as the young girl turned left to the bus stop.

* * *

It was almost six in the evening and there was still no sign of Lindsey coming home any time soon. Barb had been ready to leave for class since a little past five. She had been calling Lindsey’s friends and even the teachers. Nobody saw Lindsey that day. She was worried. Lindsey had never been late before – even when she was late, she always called or at least asked somebody she trusted to call home.

“Mommy, where’s Lindsey?” Liam asked again for the hundredths times. He could sense something was off from his mother’s appearance.

A call from Sandy asking if Lindsey was sick was all it took for Barb to realize that her daughter was missing. She took the phone and dialled 911, her hand shaking.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” asked a female operator.

“My daughter is missing!” she said hysterically. “Somebody, find my daughter!”


	2. Chapter 2

Friday morning at the NCIS office was always slow. Everyone came to work hoping that no cases popped up and ruined their weekend, and spent the day eagerly waiting for the clock to strike five. Well, almost everyone.

Gibbs came early – coffee in one hand, as usual. He strolled out of the elevator and swept the room in an encompassing glance. It was eight in the morning but the office was relatively empty – the only cubicles occupied were the one at the far side of the room and the one next to his.

He walked to his own desk, keeping his pace as he greeted the agent who was already working, “Morning, Kate.”

“Hey, Gibbs,” Kate mumbled in reply. She was spell-checking her report before handing it to Gibbs, unwilling to repeat it. She ignored the strong smell of coffee that Gibbs was drinking as she double-checked the last page, and then nodded satisfactorily at the result. She stood up, straightened her skirt, and walked to Gibbs desk. “I double-checked,” she informed him when the senior agent raised his eyebrows as he took the files from her hand.

“Good girl,” Gibbs nodded, giving Kate his lopsided smirk. He looked around. “Where is everyone?”

Kate shrugged. “I’m sure McGee is on his way; Ziva’s probably down at the gym – saw her car in the parking lot; and God knows where Tony is,” she said. She was about to go back to her desk when she saw their director, Jenny Shepard, trot down the stairs to their area; her expression grim. Kate groaned inside, _here goes my weekend_ , she thought.

“Morning, Director,” she greeted when the redhead came closer.

“Morning, Agent Todd,” she replied. The former NCIS agent turned to Gibbs. “You’re not going to like this,” she told the man. Gibbs straightened up in his seat, a frown forming on his forehead.

Kate watched the two senior agents from the corner of her eyes. She had heard rumors about their past relationship – besides the usual working together in the field, with Gibbs as the superior instead of the subordinate – and she wondered if there was a chance of them getting back together. She shoved away the thought as fast as it came. She didn’t want to think about it.

“I told you, you weren’t going to like it,” she heard the Director speak. Gibbs slammed his hand on his desk, making the two women jump.

“The hell you did!” he said angrily. The silver-haired man snatched the folder Jenny Shepard was holding and turned in Kate’s direction. “Find everyone for me! Tell DiNozzo if he doesn’t get his ass here in fifteen minutes he can kiss his job goodbye!” he barked, and then left for MTAC, followed by the anxious director.

Kate had already texted McGee to hurry and was dialling Ziva’s number before Gibbs finished his sentence. She had a feeling that this was a bad one.

* * *

 

Gibbs returned to the bullpen approximately twelve minutes later. His team, save Tony, had been waiting for him. McGee was the first to see him and the young man sprang to his feet. “Where the hell is DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked, addressing his question to Kate in a half-annoyed tone.

“Here, Boss!” Tony announced himself – he just exited the elevator, still panting. “Jeez, Boss. Chill down a little. No wonder you’re so ol...-Ouch! Hey!”

Both Kate and Ziva had elbowed Tony at the same time. Ziva glanced at Kate and gave the older woman a wink.

The senior agent glared at his subordinates, but said nothing. He handed Kate a thick folder. “Read that,” he said tiredly. “Get back to me after you’ve finished. The rest of you – with me.”

The former secret service agent nodded and returned to her seat while her teammates followed their boss to who-knows-where.

* * *

 

“Anyone see an Amber Alert last Monday?” Gibbs asked when the elevator door had closed properly.

“Me,” McGee answered. “A Lindsey something... why?”

Gibbs growled. He slammed his fist on the emergency stop button and the elevator stopped midway. “Lindsey Burke. Our victim,” the team leader hissed.

“What is an Amber? I thought you said the victim’s name is Lindsey?” Ziva asked – she had only been in Gibbs’ team for less than six months now and sometimes she felt that English was killing her.

“It’s a code alert for missing or kidnapped children,” McGee explained briefly. He turned back to Gibbs. “Boss, I thought the FBI is handling this case.”

Gibbs smacked the side of the elevator with his fist. “It was supposed to be ours, McGee!” He yelled out of anger. “They took the case and returned it to us when it was dead cold! Now we lost five days without a single lead – except that crap pile of files Kate’s reading outside!”

“I’m not sure I’m... following,” Tony swallowed the last part of his sentence when Gibbs’ glare pierced him.

The former marine let out a loud sigh. “Three weeks ago a civilian girl, Charlotte Weston, was kidnapped on her way to the bus stop within the ten minute walk from her apartment. The FBI took the case, put out the first Amber and got a list of suspects. Then last Monday, another girl went missing. The FBI connected the cases as serial kidnapping because she also went on her way from home to the bus stop. What they apparently forgot to say was that Lindsey Burke’s father is a marine, Sergeant Charles Burke, who’s currently deployed in Iraq!” he explained impatently.

“So the case was ours to begin with?” Tony asked incredulously.

“Yeah, DiNozzo. And the FBI screwed up big and now they wanted us to take the blame, a.k.a. telling her father that his child is missing and he probably will never see her again,” Gibbs snapped at the younger man. It was bad enough that the FBI stepped into their jurisdiction to gain credits, but handing over _their_ own case in the middle of an investigation just to save their asses was uncalled for. The fact that the case involved children only served to spark Gibbs’ anger more. Gibbs hated cases involving children. Every child victim he saw reminded him of his failure to protect his own daughter, Kelly. Gibbs gritted his teeth when Kelly’s name crossed his mind.

They stood in silence in the confined box for a couple more minutes before Tony couldn’t take it anymore. An angry Gibbs and a cramped space didn’t go well together. “Err... -Boss, can we just... -eh, can we just go back to the office? I’m feeling a little claustrophobic here!” The young agent hit the emergency stop button and the elevator moved again. He hit their floor button and slipped himself between McGee and the elevator door, planning his early escape.

* * *

 

Kate was waiting in front of the elevator door when it swung open. The three young agents groaned inwardly when they saw the brunette, thinking that she would drag them inside again. But Kate only shot them an annoyed look and got inside the elevator where Gibbs was waiting. The man didn’t even make an attempt to leave the elevator.

The senior agent watched as the brunette hit the emergency stop button as soon as the door closed behind her.

“First, can I say how much I hate those special agents right now?” Kate rambled.

Gibbs couldn’t suppress a small chuckle upon hearing Kate’s declaration. “Kate, you and I are both special agents too,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Kate looked at him in disbelief. “Did you really just tell me that? I know, Gibbs. I mean the FBI!” she said.

The flicker of amusement in Gibbs’ eyes went dead the moment she brought up those three capital letters. “Whatcha got?” He nodded at the file in Kate’s hand.

“Victims or suspects first?” Kate asked. Gibbs only stared at her and she nodded. “Right. The profile they made on the kidnapper was a bit general, but we can use it to kick-start our own profiling. I don’t think you’ll approve – since we’ve already lost so much time – but I think we need to retake some statements from the victims’ friends and neighbors. And – you’re not going to like this one, either – I need to read the full FBI reports on the statements. It will take time, Gibbs, but it will be more effective if we purposefully pick the people we’re going to re-ask about the victims instead of doing another round of random questioning.”

The older man contemplated for a few seconds before answering, “You call them yourself. I’ve had my share of yelling.” Kate nodded. She hit the emergency button for the second time and the door swung open immediately. “Kate,” he called out as the brunette walked away. She turned around and looked at him. “Singular,” he told her. It took her only a split second to understand what Gibbs meant. “We’re only working the second victim.”

He saw her face fall. “I do not like this, Gibbs,” she said indignantly.

“I know.”

“You’re going to do that to the first victim? Leave her out?”

“ _I’m_ not leaving her out. The FBI’s still handling her case. We get Lindsey Burke; they get Charlotte Weston,” Gibbs explained. “Shared jurisdiction. She’s – after all – a civilian,” as the words left his mouth, he could feel the bitter taste of hatred in his mouth. It was a lie. Gibbs didn’t want to leave Charlotte Weston out. Director Shepard made him – saying that they could not investigate her kidnapping. He hated it. And now he hated the way Kate looked at him, blaming him for something he had no control over.

Kate threw him a betrayed look. Her eyes interlocked with his and he could read what she was thinking, _you didn’t mean that_. He steeled himself and held his head higher. Kate shook her head and muttered softly before leaving, “That second ‘B’ still stands for ‘bastard’, apparently.”

“Get back to work, we’ve wasted enough time talking,” he told her, his expression unreadable.


	3. Chapter 3

Ziva sat cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the office, helping Kate sort through the statement reports. Kate, who was pretty organized, had stacked the reports into three different piles: re-question, bullshit, and reread. So far the ‘bullshit’ stack had filled the most space they had on the floor and McGee had to take a detour to get to his desk.

“Kate, can you do it elsewhere?” he pleaded.

The brunette shot him an irritated look. “No, McGee. It took the FBI forever getting these damn files here and I’m not wasting my time moving them again,” she replied. The female agent pointed at the ‘bullshit’ stacks. “You can throw those into the incinerator or something. Just get them out of my sight,” she ordered him.

“You sound pissed,” Ziva said casually. She had been sitting there for more than four hours – they hadn’t had their lunch yet – and the words started to jumble together. In other words, she could really use some small talk.

Kate glanced at the Israeli woman and saw a concerned look on her face. She sighed. “Gibbs told me that we’re only investigating the second victim,” she told her. The two women hadn’t known each other for long, but they had grown somewhat attached to each other – which was understandable, considering how much time they spent together at work and the horror they were presented to on the daily basis. “And I was angry at him.”

Ziva nodded. “What did you say to him?”

“That he was a bastard,” she replied lightly. “I know, I shouldn’t have said it.”

The Mossad officer laughed heartily. “You really said that? To his head?” she asked.

“It’s ‘to his _face_ ’, Zee,” Kate corrected. “I didn’t mean to – oh well, I _did_ mean to. I still can’t believe that he agreed to the ‘shared jurisdiction’ bullshit he told me. The FBI boys screwed up; I can’t let a child go missing forever because of that. My conscience will not let that happen.”

“I don’t think he would do such a thing willingly, Kate. Gibbs isn’t like that – you know that,” the taller woman said. She smiled encouragingly at her friend. “Let’s get back to work. The sooner we provide the boys with a list, the sooner we’ll find those girls.”

Kate smiled back. “Thanks.” She took another file and began to read, her brows furrowing deep as she read.

Ziva eyed her colleague interestedly for a second longer. After spending some time with Gibbs and the rest of the team she believed that she knew them well enough by now. Well enough to know that if it had been her or Tony or even McGee who snapped at Gibbs like that, the man would have made them clean the head for the rest of their careers.

* * *

 

Tony was in hell. He knew he should have offered to help Kate carry all those files to the office. The boxes did look very heavy, but if he had helped, it would have been McGee who was stuck in traffic with a very angry Gibbs now.

They were on their way back to the office after taking Mrs. Burke’s second statement. The lady was frustrated and didn’t appreciate the fact that the FBI had handed her daughter’s case to NCIS. She cried the whole time during the interview and the little boy was a mess, too. It pained Gibbs to see the hurt in their eyes. It upset Gibbs even more when he had to tell Mrs. Burke that her husband hadn’t yet been about the situation. The conversation kept replaying in his head...

_“Ma’am, we have to tell Sergeant Burke about this,” Gibbs said softly._

_The woman in front of him widened her teary eyes in disbelief, staring at Gibbs in shock as if he had grown another head. “Bu... but I thought the FBI had contacted him,” she stammered. She shook her head and clutched the handkerchief in her hands even tighter.”They said... they told me he couldn’t contact me – but he would as soon as he could.”_

_Gibbs could see Tony grit his teeth, biting back an inappropriate comment. The silver haired man took a deep breath, calming himself. “I’m so sorry, Ma’am, but I don’t think that is possible. The FBI isn’t able to contact a deployed marine without alerting the Secretary of the Navy and related institutions, including NCIS. And we have only been informed about your daughter earlier this morning.”_

_Barbara Burke stared at the older agent in front of him blankly. “They... lied?” she spat the last word out as if it were a hot coal in her mouth. “Why would they... Did they even do something to find my daughter?” Her shock turned into anger now._

_“We’re sure the FBI has their reasons, Ma’am,” Tony answered diplomatically – to Gibbs’ surprise. “But we are doing all we can to find Lindsey. That, I can assure you of.”_

_She didn’t say anything else. Gibbs and Tony excused themselves and promised to have Sergeant Burke contact her as soon as possible – for real this time. “We never leave our people behind, Ma’am,” were Gibbs’ last words before they left the house._

...

“I really hate the traffic at this hour,” Tony mumbled to himself.

“Yeah?” Gibbs asked.

“Yeah. Look at the line! It’ll take us forever to get back to the office. And look at the time! It’s almost six; I haven’t eaten anything except a bagel this morning and I don’t think you’ll stop anywhere around here to get something to eat. Not to mention the amount of work waiting for us when we...” He caught a glimpse of Gibbs angry glare and grinned grimly, “and I’m going to shut up now.”

* * *

 

Gibbs and Tony reached the office a little before seven. They found McGee with a cup of coffee in his hand when they reached the elevator. Gibbs snatched the coffee and took a sip, grimaced at the taste, and spat it back inside the cup before handing it back to McGee.

“How come you’re not working?” Tony hissed in the younger agent’s ear.

“I am,” replied McGee. “I contacted Sergeant Burke’s CO. Sergeant Burke was on his patrol, but the CO promised to let us know as soon as he got back. And Abby and I have made a three-dimensional surroundings digital replica of the victims’ neighborhood, including some points where the kidnapper could have possibly taken the girls without being seen. Time stamps included.”

Gibbs noticed that McGee had not only created the virtual version of Lindsey Burke’s kidnapping, but also of Charlotte Weston’s. He kept his mouth shut. At the moment Gibbs really wanted to strangle the Director of the FBI for lying. It was the biggest mistake the FBI had made so far – messing up with a marine’s family.

***

“Kate, Ziva, what’ve you got?” Gibbs asked the two women when he saw them sitting on the floor, resting their backs on McGee’s desk. The files were now in order and they were reading the files from the ‘reread’ stack.

Kate stood up and took a few files with her. She looked a little pale and tired. “These five are the ones that stood out, Gibbs. I made some personal notes inside,” she told him. “Ziva and I are still going through another four.”

The blue-eyed agent took the files without saying anything; his eyes never leaving the younger woman’s dark brown eyes. Kate was the first to break the eye contact and turn away. She squatted next to Ziva and helped the Israeli officer in clearing the carpeted floor. Gibbs went to his own desk and sat down. His eagle eyes caught another box with the FBI symbol under Kate’s desk. He knew what files those were. Kate was going to work on the Weston case on her own time. Gibbs rubbed his forehead tiredly. _Where are you, girls?_ He asked the question in his head. _Where are you?_

“McGee,” Gibbs called out after reading a couple of files Kate handed him. The probationary agent was in front of his own computer, frowning at something. “What are you doing?” he asked instead of telling him to dig up some information on one of the neighbors.

The young agent looked a little nervous. “Err... Boss,” he stammered. “There’s something you should take a look at.”

Gibbs rose from his seat. “Put it on the plasma, McGee,” he said, waving his hand at the screen in front of him. McGee punched a few keys and the files he had been reading showed up on the screen. It was a record of felony domestic assault charge filed against Charles Burke.

“It seemed that Barbara Burke pressed charges against her husband for assaulting their daughter,” McGee informed the rest of the team. He glanced at Kate and Gibbs a couple of times before adding, “And apparently Arthur Weston, Charlotte Weston’s father, has a charge filed against him along with a restraining order from Charlotte and Amber – that’s Charlotte’s sister, Boss.”

“Where’s Arthur Weston now?” Gibbs asked to no one in particular.

“On it, Boss!” Tony was already on the computer. “214 Broadwalk Avenue, DC. He lives just a few blocks from where the girls live, Gibbs.”

Gibbs rushed to Kate’s desk. “Did they interview Arthur Weston?” he asked her. Kate looked at him questioningly. “I know you have the Weston files, Kate.”

The brunette crouched and picked up a box of files from under her desk. She fumbled through dozens of scattered files before pulling a folder from the bottom of the pile. “Arthur Weston,” she read.

“Go through it,” Gibbs ordered. “Ziva,” he called out. The Israeli turned around. “Get us all something to eat. Not... pizza!” He warned as the woman dashed to the elevator.

“Are we going to visit this Weston man, Gibbs?” Tony asked his boss.

“Yes. Dig up more info about him; I’m going to wait for Kate’s assessment. And get her the complete file on Charles Burke,” Gibbs replied in a low tone. “McGee, I need you to check up on these people. I want to know everything about them – where they live; what color their socks are – everything!”


	4. Chapter 4

At three in the morning when Gibbs returned from another coffee run, the office was dark and quiet. Tony and McGee were asleep in a very uncomfortable position on their chairs. Ziva was nowhere to be seen – but Gibbs was sure the woman was still working in Abby’s lab. Kate’s cubicle was dark. Gibbs peeked over the edge of the desk, expecting to see a small figure curl under a blanket on the floor, but the cubicle was empty. His brow furrowed, deeply frowning. He looked around and listened closely for any signs of Kate, but he couldn’t find her. He knew she wouldn’t have gone home; she was too dedicated – and surely, she, as well as everyone else, was too afraid to ask permission to be dismissed. Gibbs could be a pain sometimes, if not always.

Worry began to seep when finally he heard footsteps behind him. The senior agent turned around quickly. Ziva was standing behind him, her eyes red from staring at the computer too long. “Gibbs? You startled me!” she said in a low tone as to not wake up the others.

“Where have you been?” he asked the liaison officer.

“Abby’s lab,” she replied. “I’m just here to get my coat. I’m going back there to sleep. Abby told me to use her futon.”

“Kate there, too?” Gibbs asked casually. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his back.

Ziva picked her coat up the back of her chair. “Huh?” she tilted her head at Gibbs. “Oh, Kate? No. She said she’ll be in Autopsy if you need anything.” The Israeli walked past Gibbs’ desk and she noticed how sad Gibbs looked. She hesitated for a second before she stopped by his desk. “What happened is not your fault, Gibbs. Get some rest,” she said softly. “Good night.”

Gibbs stared at Ziva’s retreating figure. He waited until he heard the loud ‘ding’ and the more subtle ‘swish’ sound of the elevator door closing before rising to his feet. He grabbed his untouched coffee and headed to the stairs.

* * *

 

The ex-marine found his protégé sitting with her knees folded to her chest on the floor under Ducky’s desk in Autopsy. The young woman wrapped one of her arms around her legs and rested her chin comfortably on her knees. Her other hand was holding a crumpled sheet of paper. There was paper everywhere around her, too.

Kate had turned off all the lamps in the room, except Ducky’s desk lamp which she had dragged under the desk with her. The brunette lifted her chin when she saw Gibbs entering the room. She could feel herself blush when the older man came over with an amused look in his eyes. She smiled shyly as Gibbs ducked under the big desk and sat next to her. His shirt brushed her arms as he moved and Kate could actually smell a faint aroma of coffee from his clothes.

“It’s very cold in here,” she stated awkwardly. Autopsy had the lowest temperature in the building. The air conditioning always blew full force, no matter how cold it was outside.

“I know,” Gibbs replied absent-mindedly. He looked around. “Nice nest,” he commented at the papers radiating from the epicenter of Ducky’s desk. Then he saw Kate rubbing her hands, trying to keep them warm. He shifted and moved closer to the woman and after a split second of thought, handed her his coffee.

Kate’s eyes widened in surprise but she took the paper cup anyway. She took a small sip and nearly choked at the strong taste. “It’s _black_ ,” she protested.

Gibbs looked at her with a straight face. “I know,” he said, “I bought it.” Kate didn’t respond. The two of them sat in silence for a couple of minutes until it became a little awkward. Kate took another sip of the coffee, grimaced at the taste, and handed it back to Gibbs. The senior agent took it from her hand and took a big gulp himself. He frowned as he tasted something else in it – something that wasn’t usually there. He looked down at the cup and found Kate’s lipstick on the lid. Gibbs shrugged inwardly and took another swig. It didn’t taste that bad, anyway.

“What are you doing down here, Gibbs?” Kate finally asked. She was leaning against the wall and her eyes began to droop.

“Looking for you,” the man answered truthfully. “Bringing you a peace offering.”

Kate chuckled. “Your coffee. Right,” she nodded. She was very tired. “I didn’t want to wake Tony and McGee so I came down here,” she told him, her speech slurring.

“Thought you were avoiding me,” Gibbs muttered.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Kate whispered.

Gibbs glanced sideways and saw that Kate’s eyes were fully closed now. “Of that I’m sure,” he whispered back. “Come – you’ll catch a cold if you fall asleep here,” he said, nudging her awake.

The former secret service agent rubbed her eyes tiredly and crawled out of her ‘nest’. She stood up and watched her boss still crouching on the floor, picking up the mess of files she had left – but she didn’t help. She leaned against the side of Ducky’s desk with eyes half closed until Gibbs touched her elbow, leading her out of Autopsy.

“Found something in one of those files,” she mumbled as they got into the elevator.

Gibbs looked down at the files he was holding then at Kate. “A few more hours won’t change anything,” he said unconvincingly, but Kate was too tired to catch his tone of voice so she let him lead her back to their office upstairs without saying anything else.

* * *

 

“...te! Kate!” The brunette reluctantly opened her eyes to the demanding voice calling out her name repeatedly. She blinked a couple of times to focus her sight. Ziva was squatting next to her – her wavy dark hair was damp and Kate could smell shampoo off her.

She frowned. How long had she been asleep? “What time is it?” she asked her friend as she rose to sitting position. She saw a cup of coffee on her desk and reached for it. “Thanks,” she mumbled at Ziva as she sipped the still steaming liquid – perfect coffee with milk and sugar.

“A little after seven,” Ziva replied. “And that’s not my doing,” she nodded towards the coffee, “It was already there when I came up from Abby’s lab.”

Kate’s mouth formed an ‘O’ and she got up. “Where’s everybody?”

“McGee and Gibbs are in MTAC, trying to do satellite comm. with Burke’s CO. Tony went to buy us breakfast. Gibbs told me to let you sleep for awhile,” the Israeli said. She smiled at Kate. “Gibbs went down to Autopsy to see you, didn’t he?”

Kate eyed Ziva from the top of her coffee cup. The young Israeli winked at her in a knowing look. “It wasn’t like that,” the brunette answered in a low tone.

“Wasn’t like what? I didn’t say anything,” Ziva teased the older woman. It was amusing to see Kate squirm uncomfortably. She had come to understand why DiNozzo kept on teasing the other woman. It was easy to tease Kate. The brunette was somewhat uptight, she had so many buttons to press, and it was funny to push those buttons once in a while – just to see a faint blush on her cheeks or a hint of annoyance in her face.

“I knew there were reasons why I liked you better when you first came here,” Kate said, changing the topic. “You’ve spent too much time with Tony the Neanderthal, I see.”

“You didn’t just call me a Neanderthal behind my back, did you now, Katie-cat?” Tony appeared from behind her. “The two of you,” he pointed his finger at the women, “are going to be really sorry for gossiping about me.”

Ziva pursed her lips into a cute pout and glance at Kate. “I think there is a reason it is called ‘gossip’, Tony, yes? It is supposed to be done behind _your_ back,” she pointed out sarcastically.

Tony was going to remark on that but Gibbs cut him off. “And you three are going to be sorry if you don’t start working!” The senior agent said casually as he marched down the stairs, skipping two steps at a time.

Tony and Ziva returned to their respective desks while Kate scurried away to the gym shower to refresh herself.

She hastily took a shower and changed into the only clean clothes she had brought with her for emergencies – a red turtleneck and black pants – and hurried back to the bullpen.

The team was eating their breakfast when she returned; someone had left her share on her desk. She picked it up and smelled it – a fried bacon hamburger. She threw the thing back onto her desk and shook her head. It had been a bad idea asking Tony to buy them all breakfast.

“You’re not going to eat that?” Tony asked with his mouth full.

Kate answered his question with a disgusted glare, “No, Tony. I can’t eat that stuff in the morning. I’m not a pig like you.”

The brown haired agent pointed at Gibbs. “Gibbs is eating it!”

Kate glanced sideways at her boss. He was leaning in his chair, facing her. She licked her lips and turned her gaze to Ziva and McGee. They were watching her, too, completely amused. She lifted up her hands in defeat. “I’m going to save myself the trouble and not bother lecturing you about your eating habits,” she said.

“Good,” Gibbs said. He took one more bite of his hamburger and tossed it into the trashcan. “What did you find?” he asked, referring to their conversation the night before.

The brunette scrambled through the files and notes Gibbs had put on her desk the night before and found the one she had marked as important. “I noticed something off on Arthur Weston’s interview. The timeline of the alibi he gave doesn’t match with the alibi double-check – I mean, there’s only a slight discrepancy and I’m sure the FBI guys didn’t notice this because they were too busy with other suspects - but they don’t match,” the brunette said. “Look at this; he said that he was on the road with his partner Len Homer when Charlotte was taken. The FBI took Homer’s statement and he said the same thing. They have their logbook as proof.”

“So?”

“So they mentioned different diners in their statements, Gibbs,” Kate replied.

“Kate, do you realize how many diners there are in this district only? They’re truck drivers! They probably just mixed up the names,” Tony argued.

“That was what I thought at first, too. But then I checked their logs and meal reimbursement – there were two receipts from two different diners that day around the same time,” she said. “Now tell me how is it possible for two people travelling together to eat their breakfast in two different diners a hundred miles apart at around the same time? Teleportation?”

Gibbs nodded in silence, contemplating. The older man frowned when he saw that no one was moving. “What are you waiting for? Go find him!” he waved his hand at Kate. “Take McGee with you.”

The probationary agent had been on the phone while Kate had been speaking and looked around confusedly when the brunette asked him to hurry up. “Boss, Sergeant Burke is on sat comm.,” he informed Gibbs before grabbing his coat and following Kate to the elevator.

“Ziva, Tony, with me,” Gibbs called out.

“Gibbs, I want to go with Kate,” Ziva told him, earning a surprised look from Tony. Few people other than Kate dared to protest Gibbs’ decision.

The older man squinted at Ziva but the woman didn’t back down. “Go,” he said. Ziva mumbled her thanks and ran to the stairs before Gibbs changed his mind. He glared at the speechless DiNozzo. “What? You want to go with Kate, too?”

“No, Boss,” the young agent replied.

* * *

 

Sergeant Charles Burke was an attractive man in his late thirties. There was a trace of youth on his expression but his eyes were dull. He had seen too many bad things, and the news that had reached him a few minutes ago pained him more. He looked as if he had been crying – his voice was rough when he saluted Gibbs and Tony.

“You’re going to find my daughter, aren’t you, sir?” the marine asked, trying to hide the tears that threatened to fall.

Gibbs said nothing, neither a word of reassurance nor one of sympathy. He slowly took a sip of his coffee and stared blankly at the confused marine. “Not if she ran away,” he stated, taking mental notes on every reaction the Sergeant might show.

“Lindsey would never do such a thing!” the grieving father spat out angrily.

“She did once, after you cracked her ribs with a baseball bat,” Gibbs replied calmly.

Charles closed his eyes as the bad memory of his not-so-distant past rushed back to him. When he opened them back again, Gibbs noticed a flash of anger and regret in the pair of green eyes. “It was a mistake! You have no right in bringing that up now! Lindsey is my daughter and I love her! I’d never hurt her intentionally!”

“So hitting your daughter multiple times with your bare hands before using the bat as a final touch was an accident?” Gibbs asked harshly. He had no patience for an abusive man.

The marine was taken aback by Gibbs’ bluntness. He shook his head and bit his lower lip anxiously. “Agent Gibbs,” he finally said, voice cracking. “Please find my daughter. You can say anything to me and do anything to me then – but please bring my baby home first,” he pleaded.

“Do you know someone named Arthur Weston?” Gibbs changed the topic. He was satisfied with the man’s reaction.

“Not that I recall,” the man replied. “Why? Did he have something to do with my daughter’s disappearance?”

Gibbs didn’t answer that. “Call your wife, Sergeant. She and your son need you,” he suggested before ending the call. Tony was looking at him disapprovingly. “What?”

“You were harsh back there, Boss,” Tony said in a low tone. He managed to shut his mouth before saying the last part of his sentence, _Kate would disapprove_.

Gibbs shrugged and marched out of MTAC without looking at Tony.


	5. Chapter 5

“You should have let me drive,” Ziva protested for the umpteenth time. They were stuck in early weekend traffic for nearly half an hour already and the Israeli had started to lose her patience.

Kate raised her eyebrows. “I have had a bad experience driving with Gibbs,” she muttered. “And it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.”

McGee leaned forward – Ziva had made him sit at the back. “I don’t drive like Gibbs. Why didn’t you let me drive?”

“You crashed your first car! What makes you think you won’t again this time?” the former secret service replied. “There! Finally!” she exclaimed happily when the cars started to move. The brunette steered the vehicle carefully out of the traffic. “You can lead the questioning, McGee,” she offered.

Ziva stared at the older woman in disbelief. “What about me? I am good at interrogation,” she protested again.

“When I’m sure that this man is a wacko, I’ll let you handle the situation,” she replied with a sweet smile.

The Mossad officer frowned. “That was not a compliment, yes? Because if it was; I do not get it.”

* * *

 

McGee looked so nervous that Kate had to remind the younger man that he was a federal agent. He straightened up a bit and walked ahead of the two women who were grinning behind his back.

“You are whiskey,” Ziva whispered into Kate’s ear, earning a confused look from the other woman. “Or whatever word close to it.”

“It’s wicked,” Kate corrected as McGee rang the doorbell, her eyes gleamed with laughter. “And it wasn’t even close.”

A hefty man with a beard and mousy brown hair opened the door. His eyes were red and there was a hint of alcohol in his breath. “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested,” he slurred.

“I’m not selling anything, sir,” McGee said in an authoritative tone. “I’m Special Agent McGee from NCIS. This is Agent Todd and Officer David. We’d like to ask you some questions.”

The half-drunk man frowned, but he let them in without much of a fuss. He didn’t even ask them what NCIS stood for.

The three agents couldn’t help, but wrinkle their noses in disgust when they entered the house. The place was a mess. Even a pigsty would be cleaner.

“What do you want?” Arthur Weston asked in an unfriendly manner.

McGee took a quick glance at Kate and Ziva, who nodded and smiled encouragingly. He swallowed hard. “It’s regarding your daughter Charlotte and the other girl that went missing,” he began.

Arthur Weston’s eyes lit up in anger when McGee mentioned his daughter’s name and his demeanor changed instantly. “Did you find my kid?” he asked.

“No, sir, we haven’t found her yet,” McGee replied, glad that he bit back the word ‘sorry’ before saying it. He looked at the women again, asking for help, but Kate was glaring at him – telling him to go on. “We’d like to know your whereabouts when your daughter was taken.”

The tall man wobbled to a large armchair and slumped down. “I... I’ve told the FBI people everything I know,” he stuttered. “I didn’t take my daughter. You see, they didn’t even let me see her.”

“Perhaps because you molested her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone?” Ziva asked coldly. She wasn’t moved by the sad expression that flashed across his face – she was used to interrogating war criminals and prisoners; she knew how deceitful people could be.

Arthur lifted his head and gazed at the Israeli. “It was a mistake,” he murmured.

“Everyone says that when they’re caught. A mistake,” Kate replied. “Was it another mistake, Mr. Weston? You went to see Charlotte, but she freaked out?”

“I didn’t see her, okay?! They forbade me to see my kids. I didn’t go anywhere near my daughters.”

“In your statement, Mr. Weston, you mentioned that you were having breakfast around the time of your daughter’s disappearance. You were travelling with a Mr. Len Homer?” McGee asked him, changing the direction of the interview.

The man rubbed his face tiredly. “Yeah,” he replied. “I gave the FBI and the police the copy of my log and receipts.”

“Well, there’s a slight discrepancy with the name of the diner you said that you went to compared to  the one that was mentioned by Mr. Homer in his statement,” McGee showed him the log with Kate’s scribbling on it, “And there were two receipts reimbursed for the same day.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand...” he said, shaking his head. “I was with Len the whole time and we never went to-... what’s this... Lola’s Diner.” He looked so genuinely confused that Kate began to feel for him. But the agent steeled herself.

“Mr. Weston, look at the time and dates on these two receipts,” she pointed out. “Same date, only a few minutes difference in the time. These two diners are a hundred and thirty-two miles apart. I’d like to know how you and Mr. Homer were in two different places at the same time. How do you explain it?”

“I can’t. I swear I didn’t know about this second receipt. Look at the address, miss, it wasn’t even in my route,” Weston argued. He didn’t know what else he could say to make them believe him. He knew his answers were not reliable – even the FBI people hadn’t believed him, thanks to his criminal record.

“Then how come it ended up in your reimbursement tab?” He couldn’t answer that so Kate proceeded to the next question, “Did you kidnap your own daughter, Mr. Weston?”

“No!” It was a definite answer. No hesitation.

“Where were you when Lindsey Burke was taken?” McGee asked again. Arthur Weston looked him in the eyes as if McGee had grown a second head. “Lindsey Burke? She was taken last Monday, approximately two weeks after your daughter went missing from the same neighborhood.”

He looked tired and defeated. “You can’t find my daughter and now you are going to blame me for the disappearance of another kid?” he asked in a high pitched tone.

“We’re not accusing you of anything, Mr. Weston,” Ziva added. “We’re just being thorough. Please answer the question.”

“Last Monday? I was... I don’t know, I was at home I think,” Weston answered after a while. “Look, I have nothing to do with this... Lindsey Burke’s disappearance, okay? Ever since Charlotte went missing I’ve been looking for her everywhere.”

“Would you mind giving us your statement?” McGee requested. “We need it to eliminate you as a suspect in both kidnapping, sir.”

Weston nodded. “Whatever you need.”

* * *

 

“What do you think?” Ziva asked Kate when they were back in the car.

“He needs to do some serious spring cleaning,” the brunette answered absent-mindedly. She blinked as she realized what Ziva was really asking about. “I mean... I don’t know. He didn’t sound guilty, and as much as I dislike him for what he did to his daughter, I kind of feel for him.” She fell silent for a second before adding, “Or maybe I’m just too tired.”

“Maybe we should check on this Homer guy,” McGee suggested.

“Yeah. You have his address?”

Ziva took a quick look at Kate’s exhausted face and snatched the car key Kate had just taken from her handbag. “I’m driving. I may drive like a baboon, but at least I am not going to fall asleep on the wheel. Scoot!”

* * *

 

An elderly woman answered the door. She let them in and offered them some refreshments. They declined politely and cut to the chase, asking to speak with Len Homer. The old woman, Len’s mother, told them that Len got into an accident a couple of weeks ago and was still in hospital. She gave them the name of the hospital and told them to visit her son because “The poor boy doesn’t have a lot of friends.” They excused themselves and burst out laughing as soon as they were out of the woman’s earshot.

“So? Heading to the hospital?” Ziva asked.

“No,” Kate replied. “Maybe we should head back and check with Gibbs.”

“Can I drive?” McGee requested. Ziva had scared him to death with her driving earlier. When the two women eyed him suspiciously, he responded, “What? You two get to drive and I don’t? That’s not fair!”

* * *

 

“So?” Gibbs asked as soon as he saw that the three agents were back. McGee looked pale and headed to the men’s restroom.

“What’s wrong with him?” Tony whispered to Kate.

“Ziva drove,” the brunette told him. She went to Gibbs’ desk. “He was drunk when we got there,” she reported. “He couldn’t explain about the extra receipt from the different diner. He didn’t know about Burke’s kidnapping...” Gibbs raised his eyebrows as she said that, “...and I don’t think he was sober enough to be taken seriously.”

“But what did your gut tell you? Do you think he’s involved? Did you press him about the diners?” Gibbs pressed. Kate shrugged. He could see how tired Kate was and it could affect her judgements. “Ziva!” he called out to the liaison officer, dismissing Kate with a wave of his hand. “Your thoughts?”

Kate cast Gibbs a hurt look but the older man ignored her. The brunette returned to her desk, grabbed the files she had yet to read the night before and left for Abby’s lab. She knew Abby didn’t come to the office on Saturdays unless they needed her expertise. Her lab would be empty now and Kate needed to be alone.

She could still hear Ziva and McGee – who now felt a tad better – telling Gibbs about their interview. She could feel Tony’s eyes following her, but he didn’t actually make a move to follow her – he was also listening to the other two agents. Kate sighed in relief. The last thing she needed was Tony hovering around trying to make her feel better.

The lab was empty, as Kate had expected. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was standing in the middle of the room and hadn’t turned on the lights yet. The room was dimly lit by the ray of sunlight from the window and Kate felt so safe and relaxed. A small smile began to form on the sides of her mouth when she heard a knock from behind. She gasped and turned around in an instant – hand reaching for her gun.

“Whoa! Kate! It’s me!” Tony took a step backwards, lifting his hands in front of him in a defensive position. “It’s just me,” he repeated. The young agent didn’t make a move before he could see the wild flicker in Kate’s brown eyes turn into recognition.

“Tony!” Kate groaned crossly. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Thought you could use some company!” He said in self-defence. “I didn’t know you’d go all psycho on me!”

Kate slammed the files she was still holding on the table. “Even if I had wanted some company, you’re the last person I’d ask,” she grumbled, still annoyed.

“Harsh, Kate!” the dark haired man remarked. “You’d choose Gibbs over me?”

“I didn’t say that,” Kate responded quickly. She knew Tony was leading her – again – but she couldn’t resist.

Tony shrugged and threw Kate a well-practiced fake hurt look. “You said I’d be the last person you’d ask if you needed company! That means you’d ask Gibbs first before asking me!” he reasoned, grinning as Kate rolled her eyes with a ‘whatever’ expression. “Need any help with those files? You look like you need some sleep. Seriously Kate, you look like crap.”

“Gee, thanks, Tony. That’s really flattering,” Kate replied. She contemplated for a second. “Okay, come here. I need you to read these and tell me your opinion,” she finally said, accepting Tony’s offer to help. After all, DiNozzo was right, she _was_ exhausted. She couldn’t think straight.

Tony grinned and dragged a chair to the table. “You can sleep while I read, if you want,” he offered. “Abby puts her futon in the cabinet over there. I’ll wake you up after I finish reading.”

The brunette smiled at him gratefully, mouthed her silent thank you, and took the futon out of the cabinet and carried it to the inner part of the lab. She sighed contentedly as she lay down. Before long, Kate had fallen asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

“McGee, have you checked the names I gave you yesterday?” Gibbs asked the MIT graduate. He had just finished reading the three other files Kate had marked as important. They were flag-worthy, and he would ask his team to question the three people later, but currently he had only asked McGee to dig up the first two files which made his gut churn.

McGee took a couple of printouts from his desk and gave it to Gibbs. “I’d read this one first, Boss,” he suggested. Gibbs took the papers and raised his eyebrows at his suggestion. “Sorry, Boss. I...”

“Good, McGee. Just don’t let me catch you apologizing for voicing your thoughts again,” he cut the younger agent off. “Now find out about these three,” he ordered him.

McGee gave his boss a weak smile and returned to his desk. It wouldn’t take a long time for him to find information on these three people, but he wanted to be thorough. He still didn’t feel confident enough with his ability as an agent and sometimes a little approval from Gibbs or the other team members was all Tim was looking for.

“I didn’t see Tony. Do you think he ran for a quick date?” Ziva whispered to McGee, glancing sideways at Gibbs – making sure he wasn’t listening. She was tired of working at her own cubicle at the far end of the room, a bit far away from the rest of the team’s since there was no other space left, so she spent most of her time occupying half of McGee desk, despite his protests.

“He’s doomed,” McGee replied while typing, eyes never leaving the computer screen. “I didn’t see Kate, either. Do you think they went out together?” he asked back.

Ziva pursed her lips into a small contemplative pout. “Tony? And Kate?” she said a little louder than she had intended but she didn’t notice until McGee shushed her. The twosome glanced at Gibbs but the older agent didn’t seem to have listened to their banter. “Tony and Kate?” Ziva repeated more softly now, “Gibbs will not approve, yes?”

“The heart wants what the heart wants,” McGee said poetically. He tilted his head and stopped typing. “But I think the two of them will kill each other before they even get to the I-think-I-love-you part,” he concluded.

Ziva snorted. It was true – Tony was too juvenile and playful, and Kate was just too uptight; they would have jumped at each other’s throat before even thinking of going out on a date together. Kate would want someone wiser and more mature. A naughty thought came across her mind. She leaned closer to McGee. “What about Gibbs?” Her words were barely heard even by McGee, but the two glanced nervously at their boss anyway.

“What about him?” McGee asked.

“He and Kate,” Ziva said. “Don’t tell me you don’t see it!” She warned him when McGee cast her an are-you-kidding-me look.

McGee frowned. He had been around for almost three years now; he had seen how Kate and Gibbs interacted with each other. He knew that Kate looked up to Gibbs and he knew that Gibbs was very protective of Kate. But the thought of Kate and the Boss having a fling had never occurred to him. “Well...” he mumbled. “Do you think it’s possible?”

“Me?” Ziva pointed herself. “Of course!”

“Of course what?” They were so engrossed in their gossiping that they didn’t notice Gibbs coming at them.

The twosome froze in their seats, looking at each other. “We’re so dead,” McGee thought. “Err.. nothing, Boss,” he lied.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and stared sharply at the very guilty-looking McGee. “Rule number seven, McGee,” Gibbs reminded him. He waved at Ziva. “Go wake Kate up. I’m sure she’s asleep in Abby’s lab right now,” he told her. “And if DiNozzo is asleep too instead of working, smack him for me!”

* * *

 

“Did you tell Gibbs she’s asleep?” Ziva asked Tony when she reached Abby’s lab and found the man slouching on the floor, head resting on Bert the hippo, but still working nevertheless. Tony had asked her to lower her voice when she entered the lab and had pointed at the inner part of the lab where Kate was resting.

“No, he’d flip. Why?” Tony replied. He yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

“Because he specifically asked me to wake Kate up and to smack you if you slept too,” Ziva replied lightly. She tiptoed to the sliding glass door and peeked. Kate was still fast asleep under a blanket. She went inside and called her name a few times before the brunette stirred and opened her eyes. Ziva frowned as she looked at Kate’s somewhat flushed but pale face. “You okay?” she asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” Kate replied weakly. She felt a little dizzy, but it was probably due to stress and lack of sleep. “Any more leads?”

“Gibbs just asked me to call you both,” Ziva replied. She frowned as Kate wobbled a bit when the former secret service agent tried to stand up. “Kate,” she called her friend softly, placing her hand on Kate’s forearm. “Are you sure you are okay?”

The brunette nodded unconvincingly. “Yes,” she responded as she bent down to fold the futon and return it to the cabinet.

“You don’t look well,” she remarked. The Mossad officer followed the older woman out of the lab to the elevator. “Kate, hey,” she grabbed Kate’s sleeve, tugging it a little so the woman would stop. “You are ill, yes?”

“No, I’m not,” Kate replied, frowning. “I’m fine, Zee. Really. You’ll be the first to know if I don’t feel well,” she assured her friend.

* * *

 

Gibbs wanted them to question the five people Kate had flagged, all from Burke case. He hadn’t reviewed the flagged files from the Weston case yet but he had decided to do one thing at a time. The man divided his team into two after the five of them had a quick late lunch. He and Kate would first talk to a Mr. Ronald Hamilton – an unemployed with the only house equidistant from the Burkes’ and the Westons’. Tony, McGee and Ziva would visit James Buchanan, a dishonourably discharged ex-marine.

“Call Kate when you’ve left Buchanan’s,” Gibbs told McGee. The probationary agent nodded and climbed to the backseat of the car. At least it wasn’t Ziva who was driving this time.

“Come on, Katie,” Gibbs called out to the female agent who was still punching some information into her PDA. He touched her elbow lightly, leading her to the car – just like he often did without realizing. She didn’t say anything during the first few minutes of their ride until they hit the crowded highway.

“You want me to drive, Gibbs?” she offered, knowing how much the older man hated traffic.

Gibbs smirked. “You don’t trust me, Agent Todd?” he teased. “Don’t think I can handle the heat?”

Kate blushed. “You hate traffic. And it’s the weekend,” she reasoned. “Traffic’s twice as crazy.” Gibbs didn’t respond to her so she decided to keep her mouth shut for the rest of their ride. She leaned sideways against the window and sighed. The next thing she knew Gibbs was outside the car knocking at her window to wake her up. She straightened up and got out of the car, embarrassed for falling asleep. She was about to say her apology when she remembered how much her boss disliked apologies so instead she just smiled shyly at him.

Gibbs walked next to her to the door. He knocked a couple of times and waited, glancing at Kate as he did. Kate looked worn down despite the extra sleep she had in the lab and earlier in the car. He frowned. He knew Kate had been working extra hard on this case and he thought he knew the reason. She was doing it for him. Gibbs held back a smile and reminded himself that it might not be the reason.

A young man no older than seventeen opened the door for them. The teenager was wearing an old t-shirt; his hands were covered in oil and dirt. He smiled even though he didn’t know who they were. “Can I help you, Sir? Ma’am?” he addressed them both, but his eyes were fixed on Kate.

Gibbs showed him his badge. “We’d like to speak with your father, Brandon. Is he at home?” the senior agent requested once he had introduced himself and Kate and asked for the boy’s name.

The boy shouted inside, “Pa! Someone’s looking for you!” He turned around with a grin. “Come on in, my dad will only be a minute.”

“What have you been working on?” Kate asked, nodding at his outfit.

Brandon grinned even wider. “We’re building a hot tub. I’m helping my Pa dig around and making sure the pressure won’t blow the house up,” he described vaguely, definitely felt proud that an attractive woman took interest in what he was doing. He pointed to the window behind them that had a view to their backyard. “See those barrels, Ma’am? Pa filled them with tar and pebbles to make sure they’re heavy enough to contain the pressure. And they’re real heavy!”

Before Kate could respond, a man entered the room. He was a brawny man with messy dark hair and heavy moustache. He was wearing a shabby undershirt, torn in some places, and worn out jeans. “Looking for me, Sir?” he asked, smiling at his two guests. Kate took note of the tone he was using and decided that she didn’t like the man at all.

“Mr. Hamilton? I’m Agent Gibbs from NCIS. This is Agent Todd,” Gibbs introduced themselves again. He was aware of the way Hamilton eyed Kate and his jaw clenched in disapproval. Subconsciously he stepped closer to Kate, as if trying to shield her from the other man. “We’d like to ask you some questions about the two kidnappings that took place in your neighborhood this past month?” Gibbs began, not failing to notice how his smile faltered a little at the mention of the kidnapping.

Hamilton looked at his son. “Donny,” he said to the boy in a reserved tone, “continue your work. Don’t move the barrels without me; our insurance doesn’t cover a broken backbone!” The boy went without another word but managed to steal a smile at Kate. The burly man waited until he heard the kitchen door open and close again. “Have you found them?” he asked before asking the agents to sit.

“Not yet. That’s why we’d like to talk to you, in case you remember anything,” Kate replied.

Hamilton shook his head. “Ah, poor girls,” he murmured. “I really hope you catch the man who did this. I have a daughter too, you know. I’m scared for her.”

“How old is your daughter, Mr. Hamilton?” Gibbs asked.

“Natalie’s Lindsey’s age. Fourteen next month. They go to the same school, you know,” he replied. “She often came over after school to hang out with Nat. Lindsey’s such a pretty kid. It’s sad what happened to her.”

“Do you know Charlotte Weston; the other girl that went missing?” Kate enquired.

“Ma’am, _everybody_ knows Charlie Weston,” was his reply. Kate thought she saw something in his eyes but it was gone before she could point out what it was. “She is a bad influence for every girl in the neighborhood,” he added.

Kate frowned at the answer. She knew something was off, but she didn’t know what. “Does your daughter know Charlotte Weston?”

“Yes, of course. Like I said, everybody knows her. She used to come here to play with my Nat before the incident with Arthur Weston. Man, he was crazy.”

“Did Charlotte and Lindsey know each other?” Kate continued. Gibbs said nothing; he trusted Kate to lead the interview. He just sat there next to the woman, looking around the living room and evaluating its state.

The room was rather empty – furniture was kept to minimum and the lighting was bad. Gibbs scowled. From what he had heard, he concluded that Hamilton and his kids had been living in the house for years, yet the house was practically empty. The man had two teenagers living under his roof and yet there was no proof of it at all.

Hamilton shrugged. “That I don’t know.”

“Why did Charlotte stop coming here?”

“I don’t know, Ma’am. But I’m glad she stayed away from Nat. Like I said: bad influence.”

“What about Lindsey Burke?”

The man tilted his head, not knowing where this would lead. “What about her?”

Kate pointed out politely, “You said that Charlotte Weston is a bad influence for your daughter. What about Lindsey Burke? Is she a bad influence too?”

Hamilton leaned forward at Kate and Gibbs. “Don’t get me wrong, but I think that child is a liar. Don’t ask me how I know, I just did.”

Kate blinked. She forced herself to nod and smile at the man. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Hamilton,” she thanked him as they rose from their seats. She didn’t offer him her hand, and neither did Gibbs. Instead, the older man walked to the window and pointed outside.

“Nice work with the hot tub,” he complimented. “Barrels with tar and pebbles are the best ballast and pressure balancer. Did mine just like that, too.”

Hamilton grinned widely and began to boast about his project while showing them the way out. He waved at them as the two agents walked to their car.

“Leaving so soon, Ma’am?!” Kate turned around as she heard Brandon called out to her from behind – he poked his head above the thick bushes. The brunette smiled at him and Brandon waved and returned to work.

Gibbs stared at Kate with an amused expression. “What?” Kate barked at him.

“Nothing,” he said. “You just found yourself an admirer.”

“Wha... you mean the boy? Ha!” Kate snorted, “I’m not into boys, Gibbs. I like mature men,” she said leadingly. He looked at her contemplatively, asking himself if Kate realized that their conversation had somehow touched quite an intimate subject, but she was oblivious to the gaze. The spark in her eyes dulled as she let out a deep sigh. “I don’t trust Hamilton,” she told her boss.

“Then don’t,” Gibbs agreed. “Has McGee contacted you yet?”

She fumbled through her bag and took out her phone. “DiNozzo texted me five minutes ago. ‘Good idea sending Ziva with us. We’re going to the second one. What’s your six?’” she read the text. “Should I reply?” Gibbs didn’t answer that. He ignited the car and put the pedal to the medal. “Guess not,” Kate muttered.

* * *

 

“It is not funny, Tony!” Ziva growled in annoyance. She glanced at McGee in the back seat who was trying his best not to burst out laughing. She reached back and threw a quick punch at McGee who yelped in pain and stopped laughing immediately. “It is not funny!”

James Buchanan had flirted shamelessly with Ziva ever since he had laid his eyes on her. He was so busy flirting that he didn’t even mind answering questions – as long as the questions came from Ziva. The man had completely ignored DiNozzo and McGee. Tony had taken advantage of the situation; he told McGee to stay with Ziva while he took a look around in case the ex-marine tried to do anything stupid – not for Ziva’s protection, but for the man’s.

He was a crazy neat freak – everything had its own place – or at least that was what Tony saw. Three quarters of his backyard was planted with various kind of vegetables and there was a patch of dug-up dirt on the far side of the fence. He was about to look further when he heard the front door open. When they got into the car, Tony could have sworn he saw Buchanan blowing a kiss to Ziva. He couldn’t help but laugh. It was, by far, the most hilarious thing that had happened that day.

“Lighten up, Zee-vah! It was hilarious!” Tony mocked her as he drove away.

Ziva glared at him irately. “There was nothing funny that. It was degrading and completely unacceptable,” she pointed out. Her accent was thicker now that she was angry. She muttered, “Kate would have thought it disgusting if she had been there.”

Tony snickered. “Kate would have flirted back profusely if she had been there,” he remarked, meeting with Ziva’s raised eyebrows. “Kate would have hated it,” he finally corrected himself. “But,” the former police officer added almost happily, “it would have fun to watch Kate be flirted with.”

Ziva couldn’t suppress a faint smile at Tony’s last remark. He was right. It would be a lot of fun to watch Kate being flirted with. She could even imagine Kate’s reaction – and to add to the fun, she could imagine _Gibbs_ ’ reaction to it. They might not have a fling – but the tension was there, whether they wanted to admit it or not.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony had been going on and on for the past hour about the date he had to cancel that day and about Gibbs’ having no life at all when they arrived in an apartment building downtown. Tony commented on how some people could be so boring like some he knew personally. They were going to see Garrett Neville, Lindsey Burke’s basketball coach.

“Which apartment, McGoofy?” He asked his junior cheekily.

“468 – third floor,” McGee replied after he skimmed for the address on the file.

Tony pressed the elevator button, grumbling, “Now what stupid person put an apartment four hundred and something on the third floor?”

“That would be my father, sir,” a teenage voice replied from behind them. Tony smacked his head mentally as he turned around. “Don’t worry, I’m not fond enough of him to be offended,” the boy added nonchalantly before Tony could say anything.

“Do you live here?” Tony asked him, earning himself a ‘duh!’ look from the boy. “Do you know who lives in apartment 468?”

“Everybody at school knows Neville the Flirt,” he replied. “Rumor has it, he sleeps with the girls, you know, from school?”

“And where is this rumor person?” Ziva asked innocently. The teenager looked at her as if she was from Mars and Ziva turned to McGee and Tony, who also looked at her incredulously. “What?”

Tony shook his head and ignored her. “So you’re saying he likes young girls?” he asked the boy. “What’s your name, by the way?”

“He’s the girls’ team’s coach,” he said matter-of-factly. “Name’s Mark, _by the way_ ,” he said, adding the last three words mockingly.

The elevator stopped on the third floor with a sharp jerk before Tony could ask any more questions so he just waved him thanks and walked out of the elevator. “Brat!” he muttered as he walked down the hall.

Garrett Neville’s apartment was at the far side of the building. Music was blaring from the room and it wasn’t until Tony knocked on the door with force that the volume was turned down. The three agents heard footsteps coming closer and a second later, the door was opened.

“Can I help you?” A man was in his late twenties opened the door. The man was good looking – tall, blond hair, blue eyes; he was a living Adonis.

“Garrett Neville? I’m Special Agent DiNozzo from NCIS. These are Agent McGee and Officer David. We’re investigating the kidnapping of Lindsey Burke. Do you have a minute?”

The young man looked uncomfortable. He hesitated for a second before opening the door wider, letting them in. “Sure,” he said, glancing at the room behind him as if he was hiding something.

Ziva eyed him suspiciously but she said nothing. She followed McGee and Tony, but kept an eye on her surroundings. She didn’t sit down when Neville asked them to sit down. There was something wrong with this man, with this apartment. She wasn’t listening to the questioning. Instead, she stood behind the couch and scanned the apartment with her eyes.

The room was not a mess but not overly tidy either. On the left side from where she was standing was the kitchen. She could see the counter and what was on it. There was a bottle of half-empty beer bottle and a can of soda and what it seemed like a blue backpack. She frowned. It was Saturday evening – no school today. Ziva David might not know a lot about American cultures, but she was damn sure that the blue backpack wasn’t a man’s backpack.

“Mr. Neville, is there somebody else here?” she interrupted the conversation. Neville looked up and Ziva swore she saw guilt flash in his eyes along with surprise.

“No,” he replied. “No, I’m... I’m alone,” he repeated his answer.

“You have the habit of drinking beer with soda, Mr. Neville?” Ziva pursued, “And I have to say that you have a fine taste in backpacks. I must remember to buy one of those for my niece when I return to Israel.”

McGee went to the kitchen right away. He saw the backpack but, no one was there. He took the backpack with him to the living room. “Mind if I take a look?” he asked, but he opened the bag anyway before the basketball coach could answer. The young agent took out a pink notebook.

“Pink is definitely not your color,” Tony remarked, smiling with mock sympathy at the other man. “Name, McGee!”

“Nat Hamilton,” McGee read. “One of the girls you coach?”

“Look, it wasn’t like that! See, Nat... the girls often come here after school and talk about our next try-outs,” he tried to explain. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Yeah? What day is it today, Mr. Neville? Please, I forgot to look at the calendar this morning?” Tony asked sarcastically. The man didn’t respond. “McGee!”

“It’s Saturday, Tony.”

DiNozzo flashed his grin. “Right. No school today. Care to explain why _Nat_ ’s backpack is here when there’s no school today?”

“She left it here after group discussion yesterday. She was in a hurry,” he said. “Look, I called her house but her brother said she stayed over at her friend’s house. I told him to pick up her stuff but he didn’t come.”

“Do you like cherry, Mr. Neville?” Ziva asked. She was standing at the kitchen doorway, holding the soda can in one hand.

“No, why?” The man answered in confusion.

Ziva smelled the top of the soda can. “Somebody sure likes cherry,” she said. “McGee. Check for cherry lip-balm in the bag, please. Tony, this girl was here when we arrived. The can is still cold and it’s still bubbly.”

“Do you have an explanation for that, too, Mr. Neville?” Tony asked him. He grabbed the man by his arm. “Come, let’s have a ride with us. Bet you’ve never seen the Navy yard up close and personal, now, have you?”

* * *

 

Gibbs and Kate were on their way to the last address on their list when McGee called them. When the probationary agent mentioned the possibility of another girl going missing, Gibbs hit the pedal as if he was losing it.

“Gibbs, careful,” Kate warned him as the man swerved in the opposite direction, almost hitting a parked car, but he didn’t seem to listen. Kate clutched the seatbelt for balance as she watched in horror the way Gibbs drove. Her stomach turned as the senior agent shifted gears and hit the brakes suddenly several times. Halfway back to the office, Kate couldn’t take it anymore – she shut her eyes tight, hoping that Gibbs wouldn’t kill them both.

The former sniper parked the car in his usual spot approximately ten minutes later, despite the heavy traffic. He glanced sideway at Kate and almost smirked when he saw her with both eyes screwed shut – he refrained from smiling, though, because Kate’s face was pale and she was sweating copiously even though it was rather cool.

“Kate?” he called her softly. “We’re here.”

The brunette swallowed hard. “I know,” she answered in a hoarse voice. “Give me a minute. You go ahead, I’ll lock the car.”

He eyed her for a second. “You sure you okay?”

“No, I’m going to be sick and you don’t want to see that,” she mumbled her reply. “Go.”

Gibbs left reluctantly, unsure if Kate was just kidding or if she was saying the truth. He met McGee just outside the building – the MIT graduate was just heading out. “McGee!” he called out. McGee stopped walking. “Where are you going?”

“Nat Hamilton’s house – that’s the girl whose backpack was found in Neville’s apartment, Boss,” he told Gibbs. The young man looked over Gibbs’ shoulder. “Where’s Kate?”

“ _Nat_ Hamilton? As in _Natalie_ Hamilton?” he asked him, ignoring the younger man’s question about Kate.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Because I just went to interview her Dad – Ronald Hamilton. Ring a bell?” Gibbs said. “You should have told me that on the phone, McGee!” he snapped. “It would have saved time!” He pointed to the direction of his car. “Kate’s in the car. Take her with you!” He walked inside the building, leaving McGee standing with his brows knitted in a furrow.

* * *

 

“What are we going to do with him, Boss?” Tony asked. They were standing on the other side of the interrogation room.

“Just let him sweat his ass,” Gibbs retorted. “We’ll question him after we hear from McGee and Kate.” The two men turned around as the door opened. Ziva entered the room with a folder in her hand.

“I just spoke to the parents of the girls in Neville’s team,” she said. “They have no idea that their daughters often hang out in his apartment. I think I’ve just ruined some of the girls’ weekend.”

“Did you talk to the girls?” Gibbs enquired. He took the last sip of his coffee and frowned when he had swallowed the last drop.

Ziva shook her head. “No. Should I?”

“Of course not, Ziva. Why would you do that?” Gibbs remarked sarcastically as walk to the door. “I’m going for a refill!” he muttered loudly, slamming the door behind him.

“Is it just me, or Gibbs is crankier than usual?” Tony asked to no one in particular. He looked at Ziva, who was standing beside him with an irritated look on her face. “Don’t take it personally. He’s always like this on cases involving children and FBI,” he soothed her.

The Israeli shrugged. “I should have pressed harder to speak with the girls,” she said. “You would have, yes?”

Tony snorted, “Me? I’d go there myself first thing in the morning.”

“You’d take me with you, no?”

The Italian grinned. “You owe me a whole week’s lunch,” he stated. “Man, I love capitalism!”

* * *

 

“Gibbs,” the coffee addict barked into his phone. He had had his coffee refilled twice while waiting for either Kate or McGee to call. “Okay. Tell the boy to call us back when his sister’s come home,” he hung up. “She’s not home yet,” Gibbs told his subordinates. He left the observation room and entered the interrogation room in a matter of seconds. “Where is Natalie Hamilton?” he asked, his voice bearing so much threat which even the toughest criminals couldn’t ignore.

“I... I don’t know, I swear!” Garrett Neville answered. He looked as if he was about to cry.

“Where is Lindsey Burke?” Gibbs ignored him. The basketball coach flinched at the name but he shook his head vigorously without saying anything. “Where is Charlotte Weston?”

At this point, Neville stopped shaking his head. He lifted his head to look at Gibbs – in the eyes. “Who?” he asked.

“Charlotte Weston,” Gibbs repeated, slamming a picture of a young blonde teenager on the steel table. “Where is she?”

There was genuine confusion in the man’s face. “I don’t know this girl,” he whispered. “I swear I’ve never seen her in my life!” Neville leaned forward, he was almost crying now. “I didn’t kidnap her; I didn’t kidnap Lindsey; and I didn’t kidnap Natalie. Please, trust me.”

Gibbs locked his icy blue eyes with Neville’s for a second before backing down and sitting opposite the young man. “What’s your relationship with Natalie Hamilton?” he started on the whole new direction. If Natalie Hamilton was the third victim, he didn’t want to lose any more time. “You lie, even one word of a lie, I’ll know,” Gibbs gritted his teeth, hissing his threat.

“I’m her coach, that’s all,” he answered. Neville caught a distrusting look in Gibbs eyes and he swallowed hard. “I’m not lying. The girls in my team mostly come from broken families or they have authority issue with their parents. Sometimes they will come to me for advice, or sometimes they just need an adult who listens. I always tell them to come to me instead of doing something reckless like drugs or... things like that.”

“And what do you ask them in return for the ‘favor’? Gibbs asked disgustedly.

“I don... Are you implying that I’m sleeping with the girls?” Neville asked in horror. He looked offended.

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

The basketball coach bit his lower lip. “I’m not a pervert. I’d never touch those girls!” he hissed. “Now if you have nothing else to ask me, let me go. Or I’m going to have to call my lawyer.”

Gibbs stared at the man without saying anything. He stood up. “You’re not going anywhere before we hear from Natalie Hamilton. So go on, call your lawyer,” Gibbs finally said, nodding at Neville’s phone on the table. He waited for a second or two. The young man only stared dubiously at Gibbs, but he didn’t take his phone hurriedly at the first chance – unlike what other people might have done. “I will not violate your rights to have your lawyer present, Mr. Neville,” Gibbs told him, but the basketball coach didn’t move. The former gunnery sergeant left the interrogation room and poked his head in the observation room.

“Have someone escort him. Stash him somewhere, I don’t care. He’s not leaving this building until we hear from Natalie Hamilton,” he ordered. “I’m going for coffee.” And he slammed the door shut.

Tony swapped a glance with his co-worker. “He’s pissed,” the Italian stated.

“I can tell, Tony,” Ziva remarked.

“I demand a salary rise.”

“You tell Jenny yourself,” the woman replied calmly, heading to the door as she spoke.

“Where are you going?” Tony called out.

“Dinner. And no, you can’t come. Gibbs told you to have someone escort Mr. Handsome there,” she reminded. Ziva was heading out of the building when she remembered that Kate probably hadn’t had dinner yet so she took out her phone and speed-dialled the other woman’s number.

“Agent Todd’s phone,” McGee’s voice answered.

Ziva frowned. “What are you doing with Kate’s phone, McGee?”

“She’s driving,” the man replied. Ziva could hear him talking to Kate, telling the brunette who was calling. “Ziva, Kate asked if Neville confessed.”

“No, not yet,” she waited for McGee while the agent told Kate about it. “Have you had dinner yet? I can get you some food so you will have something to eat when you get back. Sure, I’ll get you a sandwich. What about Kate? Nothing? I’ll get her a sandwich anyway, yes? See you.” She hung up and walked to the nearest diner, looking around to see if Gibbs was anywhere in sight but she didn’t see him. Ziva decided to get him and DiNozzo something to eat, too – she knew that the men, especially Gibbs, would not even remember to eat if nobody shoved food on their faces.


	8. Chapter 8

Kate wasn’t happy when Ziva handed her a sandwich when she sat down on her chair. “Thank you, Zee, but I don’t feel like eating,” she said, smiling tiredly at her friend.

“You haven’t eaten anything since lunch!” Ziva protested. She was practically shoving the sandwich in front of the woman’s face. “And coffee doesn’t count!”

“I’m not hungry,” Kate insisted.

Ziva nodded. “Yes, that is why you look like as if you are about to burp and mess up the carpet,” she commented.

Kate frowned. “The word is ‘hurl’, Ziva. And no! I don’t look as if I’m about to hurl. And coffee _does_ count. I mean, look at Gibbs!” Kate said in annoyance, pointing at Gibbs who was leaning back on his chair, sipping coffee – his sandwich was left untouched.

The Israeli groaned in frustration. She grabbed Kate’s wrist and put the sandwich on her hand. “Gibbs doesn’t count!” she hissed in a low tone, careful not to make the boss hear her. “You eat that or I’m going to shove it down your throat!” She marched back to her own cubicle, muttering on how Americans do not appreciate their food.

The brunette sighed and put the sandwich down on the desk. She felt so sleepy for some reasons despite the three or four cups of coffee she’d had since morning. She opened her drawer and took some aspirins. She popped two into her mouth and drowned the pills with a lot of water. Kate closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the cool surface of her desk. She sighed contentedly at the coolness that seeped to her burning skin.

Kate kept her eyes shut for a while and only forced them to open when she a faint hint of coffee reached her nostrils. She thought someone was bringing her coffee, but instead, Gibbs was bending over her with a worried expression. She straightened up immediately and blinked at the sharp pain that shot through her head. “Any news?”

“Not yet,” Gibbs told her. “I think you should go home, Kate,” he said. “Get some sleep. We’ll call you if something comes up.”

“I’m fine, Gibbs. Why is everyone keep asking if I’m fine and telling me to get some rest?” Kate retorted. She looked at Gibbs with a flare of anger in her eyes, telling the older man that she didn’t like being treated differently.

Jethro Gibbs had never met his match on a woman before he met Kate. Yes, Ziva was relentless and sometimes rebellious, but the Israeli was a soldier trained to obey commands and she knew her place as his subordinate. Kate was different. She constantly questioned him vocally, and when she didn’t utter her doubts or disagreements Gibbs could see her glaring at him, silently demanding for an answer. He wasn’t sure if he liked it, but he was sure as hell that he didn’t dislike it. Gibbs looked around. His team was looking at him and Kate at their desks. “Fine,” he growled at Kate. “Pack your stuff and go home! Get some rest! All of you!”

The senior agent didn’t wait for them to react to his order. He grabbed his coat and marched to the elevator angrily.

The rest of the team looked sympathetically at Kate whose shoulders sagged dejectedly. Tony came over her desk, ready to offer his comfort, but Kate shook her head, thinking that the man was going to tease her. “Not now, Tony. Please, I can’t take it now,” she mumbled sadly. The brunette took her coat and purse and left the bullpen.

“Kate! Hey, Kate!” Tony called out, but Kate had already left. The ex-police officer sighed. “The two of them need to talk!” He said to his remaining co-workers. “It’s either Kate has a Gibbs issue or it’s Gibbs who has a Kate issue,” he added. “I’m outta here!”

McGee threw Ziva a confused glance. “Did Tony just imply that Kate and Gibbs are—?” the younger man didn’t finish his sentence.

“You’re the American,” remarked Ziva plainly, “You should know. _Laila tov!_ ” The Israeli said, patting McGee on his shoulder as she walked past him to the elevator.

* * *

 

Gibbs returned about half an hour later to an empty office; he sighed in frustration. What was he expecting? That everyone would still be there working? Tough luck. The senior agent went to his cubicle and sat down, facing the empty chair in Kate’s. It was never his intention to treat the former secret service agent differently; he knew what Kate was capable of—for goodness sake, she was trained to protect the president. And with all his respect for McGee, he also knew that Kate would have had a better chance coming out of a gunfight alive than McGee would have in the same situation (with all due respect to him). Then why did he do that? Was it because Kate was a woman? Gibbs furrowed his brow. No, he thought. Ziva was a woman too, and he treated her like he did either McGee or DiNozzo.

 _Must be because Ziva is used to battle_ , he concluded unconvincingly at the thought of not feeling the need to protect Ziva as much. Gibbs looked at the big clock on the wall. It was still early – the clock had just struck eleven at night. It had been a long Saturday and he started to feel exhausted. He rubbed his face tiredly, thinking about the two girls that went missing – and the possibility of a third kidnapping. Again, subconsciously, Gibbs took a quick look at Kate’s cubicle next to his.

He suddenly had a feeling that Kate didn’t head home like what he’d ordered her to. But as he fiddled with his phone, mulling over calling Kate to check up on her, he thought about how the brunette would be outraged. Gibbs took a deep breath and shook his head. Kate would be fine—he was just being silly. And he needed to get back to work.

* * *

 

Kate moaned contentedly as her head hit the pillow. She didn’t realize how tired she was until she saw her bed. The brunette had taken a quick shower, resisting the temptation of a long hot bath as she didn’t want to fall asleep in the tub, and popped two more aspirins before crawling under the cover. It didn’t take her even a minute to fall asleep.

The NCIS agent woke up half an hour later to the shrill of her ringing tone. Half cursing, she reached for the offending object without opening her eyes. “Todd,” she slurred.

“Agent Todd? It’s Donny Hamilton,” a teenage voice whispered to the phone. He sounded so anxious and scared. “You told me to call,” he said.

At the voice, her eyes snapped open immediately. She cringed at the blinding pain shooting through her head and forced herself to sit up. “Brandon? What happened?” Kate kicked away her cover and started to dress, all the while holding her phone in place with her cheek and shoulder. “Is Natalie home yet?” She heard voices on the background but Brandon was speaking too quickly and too frantically to understand. “Brandon—hey Brandon! You need to calm down a bit. Tell me what happened!”

“He’s going to be furious... Nattie just came home... Please!” was all Kate could understand. And that was enough.

“I’ll be right over, Brandon. Where is Natalie now?”

“In her room. She’ll be in trouble with all the noises she’s making.”

Kate grabbed her car key and gun, locking her apartment door behind her. “Okay, listen to me, kid. You go to your sister’s room; calm her down, and keep her with you all the time. I’ll be there in half an hour.” The agent hung up and ran to her car. So Nat Hamilton wasn’t kidnapped—well, that was a relief. She quickly drove away; her mind told her that she forgot to do something, but she was too tired to remember what it was.

The neighborhood was very quiet when Kate got there. Kate parked her car on the driveway and walked briskly to the door. She looked around and listened for any noises from the inside of the house before knocking. She waited for a minute before knocking at the door again. There was no answer so she drew her gun and began to walk around the house.

The brunette heard something moving behind her and she turned around. Kate wasn’t fast enough – her exhaustion slowed her down by a millisecond. She heard a loud thump and her head was spinning. She fell face first on the ground. A pair of dirty old leather boots was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.

* * *

 

Abby had just got back from the gathering with the nuns when she had an urge to visit Kate. The Goth knew Kate wouldn’t mind waking up in the middle of the night for her. She could come in the morning, of course, but Abby would never visit anybody on a Sunday morning. She always considered it inappropriate; Sunday was for personal relationships with God.

The security guard in Kate’s apartment recognized Abby the moment she entered the building. Abby had once mentioned to Kate about this; she said that she was amazed on how people seemed to recognize her easily and she didn’t believe it when Kate told her that Kate would be really amazed if people didn’t.

“Good evening, Ms. Sciuto. How can I help you?” the guard greeted her in a friendly tone.

Abby looked at him suspiciously. If Kate hadn’t made sure that he was only doing his job, Abby would have sworn that the man was hitting on her. “I’m looking for Agent Todd,” she said while she continued walking to the elevator.

“I think Ms. Todd went out about an hour ago,” he informed the young woman, “She looked like she was in a hurry.”

The Goth frowned. She glanced at her watch. It was almost two in the morning – where would she be heading at this hour? The office? Something must have come up. “Thanks,” she mumbled at the guard and left. She considered going to the office but she decided to just go home and get some sleep. Gibbs would have called her if they had needed anything.

* * *

 

Kate couldn’t breathe freely when she finally came around; something was pressing on her side and around her throat, blocking her air supply. She tried to draw in some air but she choked – the air smelled putrid. The agent flinched as she tried to move her head to get a better view of her surroundings. She was bound; and something rough was tied around her neck to prevent her from moving around too much.

She was lying on an uneven ground and she could feel the sharp edges of small rocks under her. Kate resisted the urge to throw up as her head started to spin again. The brunette closed her eyes and lay limp. There was no use trying to free herself while she was still half conscious and weak. _Gibbs is going to kill me_ , she thought. She had no doubt at all that her boss would find her alive; she trusted Gibbs and his famous gut. She knew Gibbs would never let anything happen to her – if Kate was to die; it would be because the angel of death had asked Gibbs’ permission to take her.

The slender woman breathed shallowly, trying not to smell the sickening scent that lingered around her. She recognized what smell it was, but she wouldn’t let herself think about it – saying it in her mind would make it real, and Kate could do without reality now. So she just lay there for some time, listening, waiting for someone to approach. When it didn’t happen, she let fatigue took her back to the bliss of her unconscious mind.


	9. Chapter 9

When arriving at work in the morning, Ziva thought that her only female co-worker would already be there. It surprised her a little not to see Kate’s car on its usual spot. Gibbs’ car was there, and from the look of it, Ziva was sure he’d never left the office.

“Hi McGee,” she greeted the computer savvy as she entered the elevator.

“Morning, Ziva. You’re early.”

Ziva looked at her watch; it was a little before seven thirty. She shrugged. “Not that early. I usually come at six.” At the younger agent’s questioning look, she explained, “I use the gym a lot.”

They walked into the bullpen and found Gibbs with his coffee at his desk. He lifted his head to see who was coming and his gruff expression became even darker. “Where’s DiNozzo?” he barked at the two. “I told him to come an hour ago!”

“Probably on his way to get you some coffee, Gibbs,” McGee stated. “Like, for a bribe? Where’s Kate?”

Gibbs shrugged indifferently, but his frown deepened. He still couldn’t shake this gut-feeling that something was very wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He looked at his watch and decided to wait for another thirty minutes for Kate to show up before he started worrying.

When Tony arrived five minutes later (with coffee), Gibbs said nothing. He only asked whether his protégé had heard from the Hamilton boy.

“On it, Boss.” Tony went to his seat and began dialling numbers. “Where’s Kate?” he asked McGee while waiting for someone to pick up on the other end. Before McGee could say a word, he lifted a hand, signalling that someone had picked up. “Hi, this is Special Agent DiNozzo from NCIS. I want to know if Natalie came home last night?” There was a moment of silence when he listened to the answer. “You are Natalie? What time did you come home... Oh? Didn’t your brother tell you to call Agent Todd when you got home? Oh, okay. Are you going anywhere today? We’d like to speak to you about your friend, Lindsey. Right. Thanks, we’ll see you soon then.” He hung up.

“Natalie came home last night around midnight,” Tony informed the team. “Why didn’t Kate tell us? Where is she?”

Gibbs balled his fists when he heard what Tony said. A part of him was relieved that Nat Hamilton was safe; the other part – the one that kept on nudging him that something was wrong – clenched with worry. Kate was supposed to be their liaison with the Hamiltons. She was supposed to inform them if the girl was safe. And where the hell was Kate now?

“Tony, tell Neville he can leave now,” Gibbs ordered him. “Don’t be too nice to him. We still don’t know if he’s involved in the two other kidnappings. Ziva, get the car. We’re visiting Nat Hamilton. McGee, you stay here – find Kate!”

They move in unison as Gibbs spoke; no question was asked.

* * *

 

A fair haired teenager opened the door for Ziva and Gibbs. She smiled at the two adults and introduced herself as Natalie Hamilton when the two agents introduced themselves and she asked them to come in. She was polite and nice – just like her brother.

“Would you like something to drink?” Natalie asked in her sing-song voice when the agents had sat down.

“We’re fine, Natalie. Thank you. Is your father at home?” Gibbs asked. She was a minor and her father should be present for the interview.

Natalie shook her head. “He left very early this morning before Agent DiNozzo called. Said something about getting another barrel and tar?” she said. She lifted her gaze. “Brandon is home, though. He’s still in bed, but I can wake him up.”

Gibbs nodded. “That will be great,” he said, smiling. The teenager excused herself and ran upstairs to wake her brother up.

Ziva smiled at her boss. “She’s a nice child,” she remarked. “I’m glad she’s alright.” Gibbs didn’t have a chance to respond as he heard footsteps on the stairs.

Brandon’s smile faltered a bit when he saw Gibbs with Ziva. He expected to see Agent Kate Todd again when his little sister told him about the two agents coming. But the teenager didn’t lose his politeness. He extended his hand and shook the Ziva’s hand.

“Sorry to disturb your sleep, Brandon. We need someone older to be present when we talk with your sister,” Gibbs explained.

“Not a problem, Sir. Where is Agent Todd? I called her last night when Nat came home – my father was a bit angry so I asked Agent Todd to come,” Brandon said. “She said she’d come in half an hour but she never came.”

Gibbs’s facial expression hardened at these words. He turned to Ziva and saw the same uneasy look on her face. His heart began to thump faster as he spoke, “You _called_ Agent Todd last night? What time was it?”

Brandon furrowed his brow, thinking. “I don’t look at the time, but it was sometime after midnight, after Nate came home,” he said. “She sounded like she was in bed or something, but she promised to come. She didn’t.”

The former gunny was on his feet in an instant. There was _no_ way Kate didn’t come without calling back; Kate was a woman of her words. Unless... Gibbs set the thought aside. “I have to leave now,” he mumbled. “Ziva, take Natalie’s statement. Grab a taxi soon as you finish.” The man ran out of the house to the car as he spoke, leaving two very confused teenagers and a very worried Ziva.

“McGee! Have you found Kate yet?” Gibbs barked at his agent on the phone as he made his way to Kate’s apartment.

“Not yet, Boss. Can’t reach her; both her cell and her landline went straight to mailbox. What happened?” McGee informed Gibbs. He blinked when he heard Gibbs cursed loudly.

“Damn it, McGee! GPS-track her phone or whatever it is you always do!” He growled. “Don’t call me until you find her exact location!” Gibbs hung up and threw his phone to the dashboard. “You’d better be too sick or too sleepy to answer your phone, Agent Todd!” he grumbled.

* * *

 

He arrived at Kate’s apartment building in record time. The silver haired man parked carelessly by the pavement and stormed inside the building straight to the elevator. He ignored the wary look a few people cast on him and he walked past the guard who was sitting at his booth. Gibbs fought back the urge to slam his fist on the elevator buttons as it moved too slowly to his liking. He waited for another second, and when the thing seemed stuck on the second floor – he lost his patience. Gibbs took the emergency stairs and ran upstairs, three steps at a time.

The senior agent had never been to Kate’s apartment before – even on the occasions when he had had to drive her home, he had never stopped by, but he knew exactly which floor Kate was on and which apartment was hers. He didn’t stop to catch his breath and was still panting when he found Kate’s door. Gibbs rang the bell a few times impatiently, waited, and then he began banging on the door when he heard no movements inside the apartment.

“Kate!” he called out her name, partly to announce to her neighbors that he knew the woman. “Kate, it’s Gibbs! Open the door!” He called out louder. His banging became more frantic when there was no answer from inside the room. “Katie?!”

A woman in her fifties opened the door next to Kate’s apartment and stared at Gibbs suspiciously. “Who are you?” she asked. “What do you want with Caitlin?”

Gibbs stopped banging at the door. He showed her his badge. “I work with Caitlin, Ma’am. Do you know where she is?”

“No. Did you ask Sonny – the guard downstairs? He usually knows if someone comes in or goes out,” the woman said. “Is everything okay? You look angry.”

“Everything is fine. I just need to talk to Ka – Caitlin about work and it’s important. But I’ll ask Sonny if he knows where she is. Thank you. Sorry for disturbing you.” Gibbs nodded politely and ran downstairs.

The security guard told Gibbs that Ms. Todd had left the apartment in a hurry around midnight and that a woman wearing a black dress and a stud necklace – Abby, definitely – had come looking for her at one in the morning. Gibbs thanked him and left.

As he made his way back to his car, his phone rang. “Any news, McGee?” he said to the phone without looking at the cell phone screen.

“It’s Tony, Boss,” DiNozzo told him.

“This better be important, DiNozzo!”

“Very, Boss. I can’t find Arthur Weston and Ziva just called and told me that Marine Flirt was nowhere to be found as well,” the Italian informed Gibbs. He paused before adding, “Sorry, Boss.”

Gibbs could hear what Tony didn’t say. He snarled at the younger agent, “Kate is not dead, Tony!”  He took a deep breath. “And anyone who thinks otherwise is fired!” and he slammed the phone shut.

* * *

 

“What did Gibbs say?” McGee asked his senior after Tony hung up.

The Italian looked at the probationary agent worriedly. “We’re fired until we find Kate alive,” he said gloomily. “He’s losing it.”

“Tony!” Abby’s gravelly voice was heard all over the room. The Goth was still in her church dress – the usual white, flowery, lacy one. “Any news about Kate? I can’t believe you lost her like that!” Abby started rambling. “I knew I should have asked her to stay at my place last night. You guys are not to be trusted. What if she gets hurt? What if you can’t find her? Where is Gibbs? Did you lose him too? And Ziva? She called me but she didn’t answer my call when I called her back. Why didn’t she answer? Did you lose her too?”

“Abby,” McGee called out. He put his hand on her shoulder to calm the forensic expert but she kept on talking. “Abby! Listen to me! Kate’s fine. We’ll find her. Gibbs and Ziva are on their way back here. You need to calm down!”

The dark haired woman pushed McGee with her fist and looked at him in astonishment. “I know Gibbs is fine! He called me to make sure I am fine!” she grumbled. “Can’t a woman just talk, McGee!?” Abby stormed out of the bullpen after saying it.

Tony cast him a dirty look and hit him with a paperclip. “That’s for pissing Abby off, McDunce!”

* * *

 

“Good morning, Agent Todd,” a hoarse voice greeted Kate from above her.

Kate fought the haziness clouding her head and she tried to see who was talking to him but she couldn’t. The rope that tied her prevented her from moving. It was tied very skilfully, Kate had just noticed – a single rope was used to tie up her hand to her feet and the same rope was connected to the chain around her neck. If she bent forward, the rope behind her would pulled the chain and choked her – the same if she tried to bent back to lift her head. She was pretty much confined to her given position on the unlevelled ground.

“Not much of a talker, are you?” the voice said again. “Doesn’t matter. The rope hurts you? It won’t be for long, either. Be patient. I’m preparing something special for you.”

* * *

 

“McGee!” Gibbs shouted as he marched out of the elevator. “Kate’s cell phone?”

“Turned off, Boss, sorry,” McGee replied almost stuttering in panic.

“Have you checked the damn last location of the phone _before_ it was turned off?”

The brown haired man blinked rapidly, a usual nervous tic he had whenever he felt worried. “I didn’t – I didn’t think of that, Boss,” he said. He caught Gibbs glaring at him and whimpered inwardly before scooting away to do it.

“Can’t anybody get their damn work done around here?” Gibbs yelled at his team, slamming his fists on his desk.

DiNozzo knew Gibbs was worried about Kate, so did he and the rest of the team. But it didn’t mean that he could smack them around with his words. The Italian bit back his angry retort when he saw Director Shepard strode to the bullpen with a displeased look on her face; clearly enough the redheaded director had heard what Gibbs had said earlier.

“That is not the way to treat your team, Agent Gibbs,” she reprimanded the man in front of Tony and Ziva. “I know you are worried about Agent Todd. I believe everyone in your team, including me, are worried about her too. Shouting at them will not make them find her.”

Gibbs glowered at his former lover with an icy stare. “You know nothing about my team!” he said fiercely. A gleam of satisfaction flashed his eyes when he saw a hurt expression in Jenny’s pale face. “They will find Kate. _I_ will find Kate. And we will find the girls.” He turned to Ziva and completely ignored the director. “Do you know where Buchanan is?”

Ziva opened her notes, glancing at Jenny who sighed dejectedly and left the bullpen. “The neighbor said he left a little after ten pm last night. It was his usual bowling night and it’s not uncommon for him not to return until Sunday evening,” she read. “And I will find out more about him.”

“Did you check his backyard? Saw this dug up patch yesterday,” Tony called out from his own cubicle.

“Yes. And I did a little digging myself – nothing that can compromise the case, I promise. It was a grave for his guinea pig,” she informed them.

Tony frowned amusedly. “Guinea pig? Who on earth has guinea pig?” he mumbled. He sobered up immediately as he felt Gibbs annoyed stare on him. “I just got off the phone with former Mrs. Weston. She said she doesn’t know where her ex-husband is and that he hasn’t tried to contact either her or Amber since the last time he called, that is when he found out that Charlotte was missing.”

“Did you speak with Amber Weston?”

“She wasn’t home. Her mother assured me that she’s safe, said she’s spending her weekend at a friend’s house,” Tony said.

Gibbs shook his head. “Not good enough. Find Amber and this friend of hers. Talk to them. Ziva, find Buchanan’s bowling buddies and get them on the phone. Personally! I don’t want you to talk to other people but themselves,” he instructed them. He took his car key and headed to the elevator.

“Where are you going, Gibbs?” Ziva asked bravely, ready to get a rude retort from Gibbs.

Gibbs voice was so sad when he answered that Tony and Ziva couldn’t possibly be mad at him. “I’m going to look for Kate.” The older man cleared his throat and added with a flatter tone, “Have McGee text me about what he found.” He turned away only to bump into McGee who was running out of the elevator as soon as the metal door let him through.

“Kate was in Hamilton’s house last night!” he said breathlessly. “Or... or at least she arrived there and left before the phone was turned off. But she was definitely there!”

The senior agent looked at McGee for a second before nodding his head, “Grab your gear. We’re going back to Hamilton’s house.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Water, Agent Todd?”

Kate opened her eyes. All she could see was the same pair of old leather boots and she sighed. Her body felt numb and sore for lying in the same position for a long time. She was smart enough not to move a muscle now, knowing that any moves she made would suffocate her and cut her already chaffed skin.

“Aren’t you going to speak to me?”

Kate stayed quiet. She was tired and hurt, but it didn’t mean her brain didn’t work anymore. She knew that the moment she started opening her mouth would be the moment her captor stopped talking. She needed the information, wanted to dig as much as she could—even if she wasn’t going to live to testify.

“You know, Agent Todd, you are fascinating. Other women would have screamed and begged and pleaded by this time. Oh, all those women cried a lot – especially the younger ones,” the captor said in a dreamy tone.

The profiler closed her eyes tightly and reminded herself not to make a sound. A part of her didn’t want to hear more; the other part told her that she needed to. She made herself focus on other thing; the voice. She wasn’t sure if she had heard the low, hoarse voice before – her mind was still to foggy to think. She frowned as she forced her mind to remember. Was it Weston? Was it Hamilton? Or was it someone else? She couldn’t decide.

“I hate the noises they made when they first came. But soon they all made the same sound. They weren’t like you, Agent Todd. They fought. They couldn’t help themselves; they kept moving, you know? They kept moving even though the chain choked them. They thought if they could hold on a little longer the rope would go off and they would be free. Oh, you have to hear them retched! It was a pleasant sound to hear, after all the noise,” the man stopped talking and looked down at the woman. “I didn’t kill anyone, Agent Todd. They killed themselves. It’s so nice to see that you’re smart enough not to make the same mistake. Be patient and don’t do anything stupid now, will you?”

After he had left, Kate allowed herself to let out a whimper. She processed all she had heard in her head and made a rough profiling on her captor. _A sadistic bastard_ , Kate thought. _Gibbs is going to kill you – before he killed me_ , she added and a triumphant smile lit up her face a little. Thinking about Gibbs made her feel at ease. Gibbs would find her. She knew he wouldn’t give up on her. And she wouldn’t give up on herself; she would stay still as long as it took.

* * *

 

“Brandon, has your father come back?” Gibbs asked as they got out of the car. Brandon Hamilton was in his work clothes again, he was carrying a shovel.

“Yeah, he’s in the backyard. Come on,” the boy invited them.

“Agent Gibbs? Is there anything wrong?” Hamilton asked curiously when he saw the two agents walking behind his son. He added the brick he was holding to a small wall. “Nat told me you and your agent came down here but you left again in a hurry.”

“Where were you last night, Mr. Hamilton?” Gibbs cut to the chase. “And where were you this morning when we came?”

The burly man seemed annoyed. “I don’t like the tone of this. What are you implying of?”

“Where were you last night and this morning?” Gibbs repeated, disregarding Hamilton’s question. “Just answer the question.”

“I was asleep. I woke up for a few minutes because Nat and Brandon were talking too loudly. Warned them to keep it down and I went back to sleep,” he said, looking at Brandon who stood next to him, nodding in affirmation. “Went to get another barrel this morning. The ones I had aren’t heavy enough.”

“May we see the barrel you got this morning?” the agent requested.

“Knock yourself out. What do you expect to see in it? A body?” Hamilton asked mockingly. “It’s in the garage. Donny, you take them there. I have work to do.”

Gibbs signalled McGee to follow the boy. He nodded at the unfinished wall and cement covered ground. “The other barrels are there?” he asked. “You’ve cemented them. Why do you need another barrel?”

“Compression sucks. I miscalculated. I’m just going to dig the stupid geranium and put the new one there. Should help.”

“Mind if I look closer?”

“Yes. Cement still wet. Just did it before dinner last night.” Hamilton wiped his sweat with a dirty handkerchief. “Why don’t you go harass somebody else, Agent Gibbs? I know my rights. Get out of my house!”

The silver haired man gave the man in front of him a long stare at the sudden change in Hamilton’s behavior. “Agent Todd was here last night. She came here because your son called her. And now she’s missing. If you have anything to do with her disappearance, Mr. Hamilton, I swear I’m going to make you sorry,” he threatened. Gibbs turned away and left. He called McGee to hurry up. He could hear Hamilton calling his son and began yelling at him but he quickened his pace.

“See if you can get a warrant to search his house, McGee,” Gibbs murmured as they got into the car. “Tell the judge it’s about a missing agent.”

* * *

 

“What are the odds that Buchanan got hit by a car after his bowling session, got a mild contusion, and was allowed to leave the hospital at around midnight?” Ziva asked Tony as she hung up with the last person on the list of Buchanan’s bowling buddies.

“I say almost zilch. Why? That happened last night?” Tony asked. Ziva nodded. “That is insane. And you still can’t find him?”

“No. What about you, found Amber Weston yet?”

“That girl is trouble,” Tony told his co-worker. “She told her mom she’d stay with her friend. Now this friend told _her_ mom that she’d stay at Amber’s. Man, that woman was furious when I told her the kids lied. She said she’ll deliver the girls herself after lunch and that she will not mind us locking them up for the rest of the weekend to teach them some lessons.”

“You know what, we’re missing something here,” Ziva said after a while. “Arthur Weston didn’t just leave town like that. Think. There is one place we have left out. I’m betting a week’s lunch we can find him there.”

“Len Homer’s hospital! I know there’s a reason Gibbs keeps you in our team! Let’s go!” Tony exclaimed.

There was no traffic on Sunday morning – although it was almost noon – and the two young agents arrived at the hospital in less than twenty minutes. The nurse gave them some information on Homer’s accident and pointed them to his room.

By the time they reached Len Homer’s room, Ziva and Tony had made a few other silly bets. Ziva grinned when she saw Arthur Weston sitting next to Homer’s bed, reading aloud to his friend. “You owe me lunch and a month’s coffee and five bucks,” she whispered victoriously in Tony’s ear. “Mr. Weston?” She called out.

The two men turned at their direction. “Officer David!” Weston exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Asking questions,” Ziva replied calmly. “Where were you last night, Mr. Weston?”

If the man was taken aback, he didn’t really show it. “I was here the whole night with Len,” he answered. He knew it sounded a bit weird, so he added, “Len’s mother can’t be here with him and she asked me to stay with Len as much as I can. I’m the only friend he’s got.”

“Can anyone verify that?” Tony asked.

“I can,” Len Homer said weakly from his bed. The man had a cast on his arm and both legs and he looked so uncomfortable.

Tony smiled unequivocally. “Anyone else but you, Mr. Homer?”

Weston nodded. “The nurses know I’m here, and they will tell you that I didn’t leave this room the whole night,” he told the agents. “What’s all this about? Have you found Charlotte?”

“Our agent went missing last night around your neighborhood. When we couldn’t locate you; we couldn’t help but wonder if you have anything to do with it. After all, your alibi flawed during the first two kidnappings,” Tony stated sarcastically.

“What do you mean flawed? You still think I have something to do with Charlotte’s kidnapping? I told you I didn’t know anything about the extra receipt!”

Homer’s face paled at the mention of the extra receipt and it didn’t go unnoticed by Ziva’s trained eyes. “Mr. Homer, do you know anything about this?” she enquired.

Weston turned around and looked at his friend demandingly. “Len?”

The invalid seemed so guilty and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. “I... I’m so sorry, Artie. I didn’t know you’d get into trouble... I really didn’t mean... I needed the extra money and they – they never checked. I’m so sorry Artie,” he whimpered.

“What do you mean? Lenny! What did you do?!” Weston shook his friend’s shoulder and only stopped after Tony pulled him off.

“I think it’s better if you start telling us what you did, Mr. Homer,” Ziva advised.

Len sobbed. “I’ve been stealing money from the tabs. My cousin would go to diners and get receipts from people then I add them to my meal reimbursement,” he began. “The company never checked the dates! They get the receipts and they always give us the money as long as the amount doesn’t beat the limit. I don’t earn much, and a couple of extra bucks are always welcomed.”

“If you asked your cousin to do it, why did you mention the wrong diner when you were asked?” Ziva pressed.

“Because I don’t remember which receipt was the fake one,” he cried out. “I’m so sorry.”

 “What do we tell Gibbs?” Tony raised the question after he had finally absorbed the information.

“That Arthur Weston is innocent,” Ziva declared. “Of that I’m sure.”

* * *

 

“So Neville and Weston are no longer in our suspects list,” Gibbs spoke softly as if talking to himself. The man kept glimpsing at his watch, mentally taking notes of how much time he had wasted chasing wild goose. He struggled not to let himself think of how much time Kate would still have left. It was difficult.

“Hamilton had iron clad alibi, too, Boss,” Tony reminded him. He was chewing his sandwich. It was late afternoon and to finally be able to sit down and eat was divine.

Gibbs scowled at the younger agent. “No. It’s him. I’m sure. We just have to prove it,” he said.

“Boss, are you sure it wasn’t only your personal...” Tony couldn’t even finish his sentence as Gibbs cut him off callously.

“Can you stop fooling around, DiNozzo? Do you know how much time we’ve wasted now? This is one of our own we’re talking about – this is Kate! Not just some other victims!”

Tony banged his palm on the desk forcefully. “This is still a case, Gibbs! Now who makes it personal? _You_ tell us to be objective all the time. _You_ tell us never to get personally involved with a case! And just because this is _your_ Kate that is missing; it doesn’t mean you can make it personal! There are two other girls still missing. Do you even give a damn about them now? Or are you too busy thinking about Kate?”

“Tony!” Ziva warned him. It was lucky that she was standing close enough to Gibbs to react quickly as the older man launched himself forward in reaction to Tony’s spew of words. “Gibbs, stop it!”

The Italian stood inertly as he watched Ziva stepped in between Gibbs and him. He never saw his boss like this, so angry, so... lost. Tony began to feel sorry for saying those words. He didn’t really mean them. He’d only said it because he wanted to hurt Gibbs for not being able to fix this—for losing Kate.

Gibbs clenched his jaw and let out a frustrated roar as he held back and stepped away from Ziva and Tony. “You want to do it your way? Fine. Find Buchanan – find other suspects! Waste your time. You don’t have to tell me if you find anything and you don’t ask me about anything,” he stated very composedly. He took out his gun from the drawer and grabbed his coat. Gibbs stopped a second to look at each of his team members. “I relieve you from my team.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Agent Gibbs!” Jenny Shepard called out to her subsidiary from the top of the stairs as she saw him leaving. “A word, please.”

Gibbs intertwined his angry gaze with Jenny’s cold one and he was seriously thinking of just leaving. They had squandered too much precious time so far and he didn’t want to talk nonsense right now.

“It’s only going to take a moment, Agent Gibbs,” the director put in, as if she knew what Gibbs was thinking. She had prepared herself for disobedience from Gibbs so she was quite surprised when the older man marched up the stairs. She nodded satisfactorily and walked to her office. She asked him to sit down when they had entered her office but Gibbs only stared at her. “I don’t appreciate how you treat your team, Jethro,” Jenny scolded.

“What I do is none of your business, _Director_ ,” Gibbs replied. “You can deal with me later. Right now I need to go and find Agent Todd – and the girls.” With that, he left the office.

He paid no attention to his team worried look at him when he walked past them in the bullpen. He had crossed the line with his team. He would worry about it later. There were more important things to do now.

* * *

 

“Did Gibbs really say he ‘relieves’ us from his team?” McGee was the first who was able to speak. “Does that mean we’re fired?”

Tony swallowed hard. If he had been more tactful, none of these would have happened. _Smart move, DiNozzo!_ He rebuked himself. _Way to go dividing up the team on a case like this_. “No, McGee. That means we work on our lead and Gibbs works on his. Like the usual,” he lied through his teeth and he knew it. He also knew that if it didn’t work well, Kate’s life was on the line – and if something happened to Kate, it was his responsibility; his fault.

“McGee, pull his records and see if any of his family members are in the area. He’s hurt. He wouldn’t go far,” Ziva instructed. “And see if he has properties or anything that should help with this. Call the local LEOs, inform them that we’re missing one agent and ask them to sweep the area. We still haven’t found Kate’s car yet.” The woman turned around to face DiNozzo. “You’d be calmer if you’re on the road, looking, no? Then go. Me and McGee will handle things from here,” she spoke softly.

“Ah... okay,” Tony mumbled. He grabbed his key and left for the elevator.

The other two waited until Tony had really left before glancing at each other. “He screwed up big with Gibbs, didn’t he?” McGee asked.

“Yes. But that is not an excuse to not work hard to find Kate,” Ziva affirmed. “You deal with Buchanan. I will try to dig more on Hamilton. There must be a reason Gibbs fixes his gut on this man.”

* * *

 

Gibbs had been sitting in his car in a hidden spot across the street from Hamilton’s house was for about an hour now. He had been watching the man work with his son without really knowing what the hell he was doing. He was sure that Hamilton was the one. But what proof did he have? None but his own gut. So far his gut had never disappointed him, and neither had his team. _His team_. Thinking about the team made his jaw tighten in an unpleasant way. They had never doubted him before. Even when he was being a total jackass, he had his team to back him up; to trust him and his judgements. Did he really make this personal? Was he being unprofessional? But it’s _Kate_ they were talking about. She was one of them. He had every right to make it personal. He’d do the same if it was McGee or Tony or Ziva or even the Director herself – or would he?

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed tiredly. “I need coffee,” he muttered. He glanced at the house. It was getting dark and Hamilton and Brandon had stopped working and gone inside the house. “How long does it take to build a hot tub for a house this small, Kate?” Gibbs let out the question without realizing it. When his question was met with silence, he reluctantly glanced at the empty seat next to his and sighed. If Kate was here, none of these would have happened. Kate would have somehow stopped him from making the stupid decision and he would still have his team on his side. “I seriously need coffee.”

Gibbs had just about to turn on the ignition when he saw movements on the porch. He straightened up and watched closely. Brandon Hamilton went out to the garage and took his old man’s truck. Gibbs pondered whether he should follow him or just sit tight. He chose the latter. Brandon wasn’t the target. Ronald was.

So he waited. Gibbs wasn’t planning on leaving. He knew that Hamilton would slip somehow, and Gibbs wanted to be there when he did.

* * *

 

“Are you dead, Agent Todd?”

Kate grunted when her kidnapper poked her with his foot and tugged on her rope a little, suffocating her. She shivered. She was cold and she felt her skin burning at the same time. Kate prayed that it wasn’t real. She got a fever. _Great, just what I need_ , she grumbled.

“Your friends are looking for you out there, you know? Do you think they can find us?” he ridiculed her. “They are busy looking at the wrong places. They don’t look at the obvious; they don’t see what’s in plain sight.”

She heard his footsteps moving away from her and she thought the man was leaving. She was wrong. He turned back and walked straight at her. Kate opened her eyes as he bent over her and grabbed her hair. She had to see his attacker.

“Talk to me!” he commanded, jerking Kate’s head upwards so the chain would choke her. “I’m a man of patience, Agent Todd, but you have to obey me!”

Kate’s eyes were hot and teary from the fever and she could barely breathe. She forced herself to focus on the man’s face but it was too dark and her sight was too blurry.

“Do you eat your veggies, Agent Todd? What do you like? Tomatoes? Turnips? Celery?” he changed the subject.

Kate shut her mouth, refusing to speak as the man mentioned names of vegetables she might like.

“You, Agent Todd, will be my sweetest kill,” the man whispered dangerously on her ear. He pulled the rope a little more and let go for a second before pulling it back harder. He repeated his action a few times until he heard Kate cough in pain. “There you go; a little sound wouldn’t hurt, now, would it?”

There were times when Kate wished she was dead; this was one of them. Now she understood what he meant by _something special_. He was going to choke her little by little – and he was going to enjoy it. The man yanked the rope very hard that Kate’s eyes bulged in pain. She glanced upwards and saw something before her eyes drifted shut. _I know who you are, asshole!_ She thought as she lost consciousness.

* * *

 

“Buchanan has an abandoned garage by the wood near where they live!” McGee updated his friends. “It was his unmarried uncle’s. He inherited it when the uncle died a couple of years ago. Closed it and fired all the mechanics but he didn’t sell it.”

“McGee, did you tell Gibbs that Hamilton was a licensed hunter?” Ziva asked the younger agent. She was reading through the files they had on Hamilton when she came across the tiny information.

Tim shook his head. “I didn’t specifically mention anything to Gibbs. I just handed him the files – wait! A hunter? How could I miss that?”

“Well, maybe it’s nothing. You were saying about Buchanan?”

“Old garage. There are other buildings around it, but they’re pretty much abandoned as well. We should check on it,” McGee said. “I’ll call Tony. Will you call Gibbs?” he added the last one hesitantly.

Ziva let out an audible breath. “I don’t think it’s a good idea now,” she admitted.

* * *

 

It was another crazy ride. McGee clutched his seatbelt as if it was his only lifeline. Ziva was driving – again. The woman didn’t trust McGee enough to let him drive. “You crashed your first car!” was her excuse. “And I drove tanks in warzone before!”

Tony was already there when they arrived.

“Swept the area. I don’t think there’s anyone here. Are you sure about this McGee?” Tony demanded.

“I’ve asked Abby to do a thermal satellite scanning. She said there’s at least two or three people inside the garage. Are you going to question Abby’s satellite imaging?” McGee replied irritably.

* * *

 

Gibbs watched intently as the truck drove back to the driveway. He saw Brandon circled the vehicle and opened the passenger seat for a teenage girl. He raised his eyebrows when he looked at the time. It was late. From the backpack the girl was carrying, Gibbs concluded that she was going to spend the night.

He sighed as he sank back to his seat. He glanced at the passenger seat. The seat was full of empty paper mugs instead of one of his team. Gibbs stretched his sore muscles. He was low on caffeine and he started to get a headache.

He waited.

* * *

 

And there was a shrill scream filling the night air.

* * *

 

Gibbs moved as something caught his ears. He took out his gun and ran out of the car.

* * *

 

“What the hell...?” Tony couldn’t finish his sentence as he heard something from the garage. “Move!” he commanded his co-workers.


	12. Chapter 12

Kate woke up with a start upon hearing the scream. Her eyes were bloodshot and hurt from the light, which was switched on. She squinted, trying to see who was screaming. _Please, please not another girl_ , she pleaded inside. _Go away, run, please!_

“Shut up! Shut up! You shut the fuck up, bitch!” the man yelled as he got into the room. He grabbed the intruder by her arm and started to shake her. “Shut the hell up!” he demanded harshly. When the screaming didn’t falter, he struck the woman on the face.

She swayed but she didn’t fall. Kate watched the scene before her helplessly. She wanted to help but she didn’t know how. Then opportunity presented itself. The woman managed to duck a little before the next blow came. The grip on her arm loosened – loose enough for her to break free. The drunkard lost his balance and wobbled on the floor at Kate’s direction.

Kate took this chance to reach out and grab his leg – the chain around her neck tightened and started suffocating her as she did so. “Run,” she whispered. She tightened the grip on the man’s leg and wouldn’t let go even though he was kicking her ribs exasperatedly.

Kate could feel air leaving her lungs and she began to gasp and choke. She wanted to let go but she kept holding on tight. If she was going to die, at least she had to make sure the girl was safe. She began to see black spots and she realized that she was losing consciousness.

* * *

 

“Federal Agent! On your knees, now!” Tony kicked the half-open garage door and pointed his gun at the people inside.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot, man!” a tall African American man lifted both his arms and waved frantically at Tony and the two agents. Tony’s eyes scanned the half empty garage. There were three people inside: the African American, Buchanan, and a woman. They were kneeling on the cemented floor, lifting their hands up. Their faces were ashen with panic.

“What the...” Tony stopped mid sentence. He lowered his gun and put it back on its holster. Ziva proceeded to the back of the garage with her gun pointed up, ready for surprises. Tony didn’t say a word while he was waiting for Ziva to return.

“No one else is here,” Ziva informed them. “No back door, either. You are the only ones here?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Buchanan responded immediately. He knew enough not to mess up with armed pissed off officers.

The three agents looked at one another desperately. Tony looked straight at the woman kneeling on the floor. “Why did you scream?”

“I... I saw a big rat over there,” she said, pointing at the stacks of cardboard boxes.

“Do you mind if we check what’s in the boxes?”

Buchanan shrugged. “Not at all. Help yourselves. Far as I know, those boxes are full of junk,” he consented. “Can we sit up now? We didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Sure,” it was McGee who replied. He managed to shut his mouth before the word ‘sorry’ came out.

“What’s this about? Why are you people harassing me?” Buchanan remarked angrily. “I no longer have anything to do with the corps! You don’t have the right to... Wait! This is about the missing girls, right? I told you I have nothing to do with it,” he rambled on, deliberately ignored by the three agents.

They spent a good ten minutes checking all the boxes – there were hundreds of them – and found only junk; and some rats. Tony gave up after he accidentally touched a huge dead rat in one of the boxes.

Ziva’s phone vibrated and the woman picked up. It was Abby. She was yelling at Ziva to take the boys to Hamilton’s house. She couldn’t make out of what Abby was saying next as Ziva was too busy telling the two other agents that something happened to Kate.

Tony’s face went pale. “Let’s go!” he said.

* * *

 

Gibbs bumped into the screaming girl halfway to the backyard of Hamilton’s house. She was still screaming and she was hyperventilating. She didn’t know who Gibbs was and was trying to escape from his grip at first. Gibbs’ strong voice asking her to calm down pierced to her panicked mind and finally she calmed down a bit.

“He’s going to kill her! You have to help her!” she screamed in high-pitched tone, clutching Gibbs’ sleeve as if for dear life.

Gibbs saw Brandon and Natalie came out running out of the house, calling out to the girl he was holding. Brandon was carrying a baseball bat and was ready to beat the crap of the intruder when he realized who it was. The teenager turned to his sister and told her to call 911. He took his girlfriend to his arms and watched with bewilderment as Gibbs sprinted to the tool shed with his gun drawn. He looked at his girlfriend’s terrified eyes and realization hit him out of the blue – it was his father who had kidnapped the girls.

Gibbs had no second thought and he didn’t even blink when he pulled the trigger. He shot Hamilton between the eyes and he gaped as the man’s lifeless body fell to the ground with a loud thump. Gibbs’ gaze was then fixed on the small frame lying unmoving next to the dead body. Kate’s eyes were closed and Gibbs growled when he saw the chain around her neck.

He deliberately kicked Hamilton’s body to move him away from Kate, but to his horror, Kate’s bound hands were still holding fast to Hamilton’s leg. Gibbs took out his knife and cut off the rope and he pried Kate’s hands from Hamilton’s leg.

The man pulled the chain off of Kate and he began looking for a pulse. Nothing. He pressed harder; still nothing. “Kate!” he called out to his protégé while he began pumping air into her lungs and performing CPR on her. “Kate, come on!” he yelled desperately. “Katie!”

 After what seemed like forever, finally Kate coughed furiously, telling Gibbs that she was back. Gibbs touched her burning skin under the jaw and found a weak pulse beating steadily. Relieved, he heaved Kate’s limp body to his chest and he held her tight, saying his silent prayer to whomever up there listening.

The police, the medics, and his team found him still in the same position when they arrived at the scene.

Gibbs didn’t hear them coming. He didn’t let go of Kate, and he wouldn’t have let go if Ziva and Tony hadn’t pulled him away, telling him that she needed to be tended immediately. He couldn’t tear his eyes from Kate and he watched the paramedics as they were giving her first-aid treatments.

“Oh good lord!”  Ducky exclaimed as he, too, entered the cramped wooden house with Palmer. He told his assistant to deal with the dead body and he approximated his friend. “Jethro, are you hurt?” he asked. “Is Caitlin alright?”

“It isn’t his blood, Doc. And they are taking Kate to Bethesda,” it was Ziva who answered the question. Gibbs was still standing idly in the middle of the dark room as if there was no one else inside but him and Kate. “Gibbs,” Ziva called his name. “Gibbs!” her persistent voice drove him out of his reverie.

“Go through everything, Ziva. Demolish the house if you must. Find the girls. They are somewhere here,” he began. “Someone should talk to the kids – and call the girlfriend’s parents; make sure she is examined by the medics.” Gibbs wasn’t sure if he still had the right to boss them around but he said it anyway.

“On it, Boss,” McGee replied readily, thankful that he had something to do.

“Gibbs, go with Kate,” Ziva advised. “Go. We’ll handle everything here.”

He looked at the woman before him as if he had never seen her before. Her dark eyes reminded him of Kate. _She’s not dead, Jethro!_ He reprimanded himself. “I will want...”

“A full report, I know,” Ziva finished his sentence. She smiled understandingly. “I have worked long enough for you to know how to write a report properly, _Boss_.”

Gibbs nodded his thanks and left. Halfway back to his car, he heard Tony calling from behind him. He stopped and waited until the younger man caught up with him. Tony didn’t say anything. He only took his jacket off and handed it to Gibbs, nodding at his bloodstained shirt and coat. Gibbs took the jacket wordlessly. Tony flashed him an awkward smile before heading back to the house.


	13. Epilogue

Tuesday morning...

Kate woke up to a steady beep of a machine. At first she didn’t know where she was. Her eyes were still shut but her other senses are coming back to her slowly as she regain consciousness. She could feel a dull pain all over her body and some sharper ones on her sides and neck. She whimpered weakly when she felt something pressing against her face and she realized that she still couldn’t move freely; something cold was circling one of her wrists. Adrenaline rushed to her head as Kate thought that she was still imprisoned. Kate forced herself to open her eyes, breathing heavily.

“Kate?” a familiar voice called out to her softly. Kate’s brown eyes scanned the room and settled at the owner of the voice’s face. A pair of blue eyes was staring back at her with concern. Kate let out an audible sigh as her half-awake mind recalled whom they eyes belong to. “Kate?” Gibbs reiterated with so much gentleness that brought Kate to tears.

She blinked the tears away and she tried to smile at Gibbs, who was standing across the room. The man returned her effort with a lopsided smirk; he approached the side of the bed and leaned so that his face was mere inches from Kate’s. Gibbs took away the oxygen mask covering Kate’s face and waited a moment to see if Kate was able to breathe without it before putting it next to the pillow. “Can’t move,” she complained; she frowned upon hearing her own voice and winced at the pain it caused when the voice vibrated inside her throat. Her voice was hoarse as if Kate hadn’t used it for years.

Gibbs smiled even wider, almost grinning now. He lifted his hand and showed Kate something small – a key. Kate followed his motion and she finally saw something that made her raised her eyebrows in surprise. She was cuffed to the bed. Gibbs unlocked the cuffs and tenderly removed Kate’s hand from the metal bind. “You were being uncooperative when the doctor tried to treat your injuries,” he justified. He looked at Kate and read the silence disapproval in the brown eyes. He shrugged. “Hey, it was either this or strait-jacket. And I’m not going to let some doctors put a strait-jacket on my agent.”

“Thanks for the concern, Gibbs,” she said mockingly, “But they don’t use strait-jackets in hospitals.” She managed another small smile before she started coughing. Kate tried to push away Gibbs’ hands as the man attempted to put back the oxygen mask but he was persistent.

“Breathe easy, Katie, breathe easy,” he instructed, wiping a drop of tear off of Kate’s face as he spoke. “Go back to sleep, okay? I will come back later,” he whispered.

Kate grabbed the sleeve of Gibbs’ shirt when she saw the man was leaving. She shook her head, pleading him not to leave.

Gibbs sighed inside as he saw the unspoken fear in Kate’s dark orbs. He dragged a chair and sat next to the bed. “I’ll stay here another couple of minutes, okay? The team, plus Ducky and Abby, is waiting outside. They also want to see you,” he told his subordinate. “They are worried about you, Kate.”

The brunette shifted her position so she could see Gibbs better. Their eyes met and she hoped she hadn’t thought what she thought because she knew Gibbs knew what she was thinking by the look he gave her.

There was a moment of silence.

“I’m worried about you, Kate,” Gibbs finally admitted, “I messed up a bit in the process.”

“Gibbs,” Kate spoke up, reaching out to touch his hand. “I’m still alive. And I’m quite sure I wouldn’t be if it weren’t for you.” He still refused to look at her, but he took her small hand into his. “Gibbs,” Kate called again, more persistently now. “Gibbs, the girls were already dead when we got the case.” He whipped his head upwards. Kate swallowed hard. She was tired and sore, and all she wanted to do was to go back to sleep, but she couldn’t leave Gibbs like this. “It wasn’t your fault,” she tried to assure him.

“You weren’t breathing when I got there,” Gibbs said so softly that Kate could barely hear him. Images of Kate in the tool shed, bound and gagged, flashes in his eyes. “If I was half a minute late, Kate, you wouldn’t be alive. And even if you survived, you’d have a brain damage.”

It was Gibbs’ admitting his fear that finally brought Kate into tears. She wanted to tell Gibbs that it hadn’t been the case, he hadn’t been late and she was okay, but nothing came out as she opened her mouth to speak.

Gibbs ran his hand to his hair dismally and he wiped Kate’s tears away. “Don’t cry on me now, Agent Todd,” he teased, but his voice cracked as if he himself was about to cry. “And my couple of minutes was up a while ago.”

“So you were saying that I have brain damage now?” Kate teased, making Gibbs chortle a laugh. Then her face grew serious. “Where did he bury the girls?” Kate couldn’t stop herself from asking. She had to know. “Tell me everything.”

The senior agent looked at the woman astoundingly. She was still in pain and she wanted to know the gruesome details about the case. He told her to put the oxygen mask back on. “We found Charlotte Weston inside one of the barrels. No tar, just hundreds of pebbles,” he stated grimly. “As for Lindsey Burke, she was still in the shed where he kept you. She was mutilated, Kate. He cut her up and stuffed her inside a TV box wrapped with Cling Wrap.”

Kate was revolted. Her stomach turned and cold sweat began to form on her forehead. Gibbs must have seen how pale she became because he stopped talking immediately. “That’s enough, okay? You can read the report later, when you’re better,” he said. He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to go now.”

“Why?” she asked weakly.

Gibbs looked at her, slightly confounded. “Why what?”

 _Why did you have to go now?_ “Why did he do that?”

The silver-haired agent sighed. He leaned down and stroke Kate’s damp hair. “You know that sometimes there is no ‘why’, Katie. You’ll go crazy thinking about it,” he said, half whispering. Gibbs resisted the urge to kiss the woman’s forehead and he stepped back. “Get some rest, Katie.”

Kate didn’t ask him to stay this time. She watched Gibbs retreating to the door. His hand was on the door handle when Kate called his name. “Everything is going to be okay between you and Tony,” she promised. “You two are worse than my brothers,” she added.

Gibbs chuckled and left the room without saying anything. He didn’t know how the woman could have known about his fall out with Tony, but somehow he believed her. Everything was going to be okay, Kate was safe. Nothing could go wrong if Kate was around to control the universe – _his_ universe. For the first time in the last few days, the huge weight inside Gibbs’ heart seemed to have been lifted up. He felt at ease. Gibbs smiled as he left for his coffee fix.

 

-Fin-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end... :)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading. Have a brownie.


End file.
